Amelia Island

This past weekend, we took a little trip down to Amelia Island.  My sister had Spring Break and usually likes to go somewhere so my she and my parents decided they would go down to Amelia to stay at our grandfather's beach house.  Because I gave them such a hard time last time they went without me and Wyatt they did invite us along this time! 

The trip almost got canceled due to sick babies but by the time we had to make a decision on Saturday morning, everyone seemed well and/or on the mend so we decided to go ahead and go!  Ellie had fevers the first part of the week and as soon as we thought we were in the clear Wyatt got a stomach bug.  (So, so so pitiful to see your baby throwing up every 15 minutes, btw). That aside, we did have a great trip!

Both kids ended up doing really well in the car on the way down and we miraculously only had to make 2 stops!  Wyatt slept the whole way down there as he was still recovering from his lack of sleep the night before and Ellie watched Barney and ate snacks the whole way!  We pretty much went to dinner as soon as we arrived on Saturday because Wyatt has a pretty strict bedtime schedule (dictated by him, not me ... keep him up past about 7:30 and you'll see why!)


We ate at a cute little place right on the beach, so after dinner we did walk out to the sand to see what Wyatt thought.  As evidenced by this picture below, he didn't think too much of the sand!  (In his defense, he was t-i-r-e-d)
 

 He was okay once I picked him up. 

The next morning, we all ate breakfast and headed out to the beach.  Is this kid excited or what?

He was happy under the tent, sitting on the beach tarp, playing with the truck.  (Wheels are maybe his most favorite thing at the moment -- he turns every car or truck over and just plays with the wheels)

Then I took him down to the water's edge to see what he thought .....

The verdict: Mommy is funny ... jury is still out on this sand and water stuff!

After lunch and naps, we went back out to discover low tide.  The sandbar and tidal pools were great for Wyatt (and Ellie) because the water was slightly warmed up from the sun.  He's not sure what to think yet ... 

Then he warmed up to it!

By the time both Ellie and Wyatt were ready to play we struggled to get a good picture. 

So we tried again a little later in the afternoon.  This is the result of our 2nd attempt!

At this point, it was beyond obvious that Wyatt was tired.  As we were taking him back to the house, he was asleep before we even stepped off the sand!

Napped, bathed, and hungry ... and posing for pictures!  (And my hair?  Don't even want to talk about it .... gaaaah)

 sweet cousins posing!

Ellie is such a big helper! Even Ellie couldn't encourage Wyatt to eat his peas though!  (Oh well, I hate them too so I really can't blame the kid)

The goal was to get some good beach pictures, so we kept trying when we went back to the beach on Monday. 

Then we played the paci game on the beach.  And as a result we both ate about a pound of sand.

And of course, we attempted feet pictures.  (We'll have to do this again when Ben is with us at the beach in June)

We went to the pool for a little while.  It was COLD though so we only got in for a minute!

Both kids enjoyed kicking their legs in the water despite the temperature.

After our morning at the pool and beach, we headed in for lunch, baths and naps.

Smartly, I went to lay out for about 30 minutes during W's nap.  I fell asleep on the beach and ended up sunburned.  Ouch!

We spent a little time walking around Fernandia before dinner and of course found a few photo opportunities!

 Does this look like the face of a kid who is ready to drive home tomorrow??

It was a fun beach trip and we're really looking forward to our longer trip in June when Dave and Ben will join us!

Off to the lake this weekend for a birthday party.

Weekend at Meme and Papa's House!

We started off the weekend with a trip to one of my most favorite places in the world - Mellow Mushroom.  Its so hard to go out to dinner with a baby on a Friday night but we did it and it was well worth the effort! 

The next morning, I got up and spent some morning time with Wyatt before leaving to go to a friend's wedding shower.  I had such a great time relaxing and enjoying my friends that I didn't even stop to take a picture!  Ooops. 

After the shower, I went home, got our stuff together and took Wyatt out to Meme and Papa's house for the rest of the weekend.  We had planned to do his 9 month pictures on Sunday morning - and his best time is typically mornings so its just easier to be there rather than get up and rush out the door to catch him in his best moods.  Since we were going to be there, Kimmie and Ellie decided that they would come out for the night as well so we could all visit.  We don't live all that far apart, but we really don't see Kimmie and Ellie (or Dave) all that often so this was exciting for all of us.  

It was a pretty day, so once we got to Meme and Papa's house we decided to take Wyatt out for a ride on his tricycle.  He really does love this thing - you wouldn't know that from his expression in this picture though! 

Once Ellie and Kimmie got there, the kids played for a little while and then we went to dinner.  We didn't sit the kids together initially, we only did this at the end so we could get a picture.  Once we slid their high chairs together we quickly realized that they should have sat together the whole meal because they totally entertain one another.  Wyatt is interested in EVERYTHING Ellie does and Ellie likes to copy Wyatt. 

 We got home from dinner and it was bath time.  Ellie didn't want to get in the bath (she was tired and cranky) but once we told her we would put Wyatt in with her she perked up. 

Ellie wanted Wyatt to sleep in her big girl bed but we explained to her that he can't because he doesn't know how yet.  We did let him lay there for a few pictures though ...

W is normally a great sleeper but Saturday night was an exception.  He was soooo restless all night.  I think it was the fact that he was not at his house combined with the fact that he was worried he would miss something that Ellie was doing.  Ellie is always an early riser and Wyatt was on Sunday morning since Ellie was up.  Here they are playing in Meme's kitchen before breakfast.

 We did Wyatt's 9 month pictures (I'll share later ... it isn't his 9-month birthday yet) on Sunday morning and then had a fun afternoon playing and watching the two kids entertain each other. 

This jeep is OLD!!  My dad used to push me around on it when I was a little girl.  Wyatt is too cool to smile, but you can tell he thinks he's a big boy sitting there!

We tried and tried to get both of them to look at the camera at the same time but it was tough! 

Pirate Ellie

Part of the reason the Pirate Catfish post took me so long, is because I was trying to find a picture of a catfish wearing a pirate patch. (I know, I'm strange) I couldn't find one on the internetz so I commissioned a friend to make one for me in photoshop. He let me down, but then I got this picture from my brother in law this morning!

A Pirate Baby is WAY better than a pirate catfish!

I love exploiting my family, but for the record I had permission to use this photograph. This was taken during a routine vision test at Ellie's 6 month appointment. She's healthy and growing or I would obviously not make light of this picture!

I'm too lazy to think of a title for this post

I broke one of my cardinal rules the other day : always pick out your outfit for the following day before going to bed. Actually, I can't take credit for this one. This was my mother's rule when my sister and I were growing up and even though we didn't necessarily like it, we both appreciated the fact that it made mornings easier and a little less rushed. Obvi, I am married now and don't have to live by my mother's rules these days but I still try to adhere to it. It seems like when I don't two things happen to me: 1) I run at least 10 minutes behind schedule 2) I get to work and end up hating my outfit.

Somehow I was able to avoid running late this morning (7am phone call with my sister ensures that I'm on time) but I got to work and HATED my outfit. Of course that made for a really long day and I got grumpy every time I saw myself in the mirror. I guess the moral of the story here is this: Mom, you were right again :)

Not much else to report to you tonight. I don't have any other controversial things to write about, so I'll recap my Friday night adventures with Ellie. (Nobody will probably care to read this other than my mom and sister)

I went up to Kimmie and Dave's on Friday night to keep Ellie while they went to a hockey game. I had just seen Ellie a few days earlier, but was looking forward to a night with her nonetheless. When I got there, she was awake and happy but really tired so Kimmie put her in her favorite nap spot to rest for a bit.



She woke up prematurely and because of that was tired and cranky. She actually pitched a huge fit when we were trying to get her back to sleep. Such a fit that I was glad her mother was there to calm her down. Once Kimmie gave her a little snack, she was tired but happy so she played on her play mat for a bit. Her favorite play mat activity is the earthquake - this is where I shake the bars so all the animals and attachments swing wildly. Funny how the littlest things amaze babies.



then we played super-baby (she absolutley LOVES this)



I have been craving Moe's for three weeks now, and thought that Ellie might let me indulge this craving so I put her in her car seat and loaded her up. She wasn't having it. She cried and screamed as I was buckling her in and then some more as I put her into the car. Once she started choking from crying so hard, I decided it wasn't worth it and took her back inside. (Not to mention I felt terrible for torturing her unnecisarilly) As soon as she was out of her carrier she got happy again. I eventually gave her a bottle and tried to load her up again. I had pretty much decided against going to Moe's by this point but we did have to do one little outing.



Had to go get a prescription for a job that was too big for Boudreaux (for Ellie, I don't have diaper rash)

By the time we got home, Ellie was fast asleep. She needed a nap, so I was relieved but feared waking her up for her next bottle and her bath. I let her sleep while I scrounged up some food in Kimmie's house and then picked her up once I was finished. She of course rubbed her eyes and stuck out her lower lip to let me know that she wasn't thrilled with me.

I took her upstairs for bath time. This is something that I cannot screw up, apparently. Ellie loves her baths these days and I'm told that it is very relaxing for her.

Does this look like a relaxed baby? (I'll give you a hint: NO)

FAIL. She cried the whole time. I think the water must not have been warm enough because her poor little hands started to turn blue. (Yes, I'm going to be a shit mom.) As soon as I noticed this I got her out, lotioned, butt creamed, diapered, and in her pajamas. We read a few books then she sucked down another bottle and knocked out for the night.

I really did enjoy my evening with Ellie but I think I overheard her tell her mom not to let "dumb aunt Katie" give her any more baths.

Aquarium Visit

This post is a little late since I meant to do it Sunday night but oh well!

Ben and I had such a great weekend of relaxation. We didn't do a whole lot on Friday, which was fine by me because I'm always so exhausted by the end of the work week. Saturday morning, I was able to get up and run a few errands that I've needed to do for several months now! I just don't have time on the weekends anymore. So that was good.

Then, I came home and we got ready for the aquarium. Ben had given me some gorgeous lilies (although they do stain my counter tops -- I have to SCRUB to get the pollen off) as well as tickets to the Georgia Aquarium. I had been dying to go ever since it opened a few years ago, so this was a great gift!!

We started out in the Coldwater Quest exhibit, since it houses the beluga whales. This was probably my favorite portion of the whole museum and we spent a lot of time in the gallery just watching them swim around in their tank.

I also really liked this Japanese Octopus. Thought this was a great picture ...

Then we went to the Ocean Voyager exhibit where they have the huge whale sharks. There are 3 of them and they really are ginormous!! When you initially walk in to the exhibit there are a few smaller viewing galleries where you can see the whale and other sharks swimming around. Then they take you into a glass tunnel and you can view all the sharks swimming overhead. All the little kids freaked out when the big whale shark would swim overhead!

Then we saw some Garden Eeels -- they are called this (i assume) because they go up and down in the sand when fish swim by them. They were pretty interesting to watch!

Ben was in charge of the camera for this trip, which was a good thing because I wouldn't have been as patient as he was in trying to get good pictures. He really did take some excellent photos!

of seahorses

and Clownfish

and some jelly fish (this is one of my favorite pictures -- the colors and lighting are just perfect)

this is me in front of the tropical fish exhibit. I loved all the bright colors!

A skeery piranha

Gators

Ben in a tunnel

We finished the night by going to DePalmas for an Italian dinner complete with red wine. Perfect day!

The next morning we woke up to snow!! We went out to my parent's house to visit Ellie for the day. She LOVED the snow!