1st Family Beach Vacay

We took our 1st family vacation to the beach this weekend with Gpa G, Gma J, Uncle Aaron, and Uncle D & Kari. We went to Ocean Shores and stayed in a cozy little cabin @ Snugglers Cove. It was a really snuggly kind of place :) - especially with the stormy weather we encountered while we were visiting!!

Our cabin was SO cute and cozy - it made staying inside due to the windy and rainy weather conditions, not. so. bad! :) We got some quality family time, which was really nice.

TV/small living room area

A look at the back porch with direct beach access - which we did not get to use during this visit. But maybe next time we decide to head to the ocean we can!

Comfy, cozy log bed!

Other side of the bed and door to the bathroom

Little kitchen area

We spent the first day inside with the family, chatting, enjoying warm coffee while watching the waves come crashing in from storm outside, and doing a puzzle!

SO excited to be at the beach (the first morning)

Snuggling with Daddy watching the stormy weather

A view of the stormy weather from our cabin window....and a crazy guy wind surfing in the storm!

We spent lots of time with the family in their cabin, too!

Laughing with Grandma J & Grandpa G

Hanging with Uncle Aaron

Talking with Daddy about our busy beach day!

The next day we went into town and did some shopping. Stephen ended up buying a remote control helicopter which became quite the entertainment during the trip. The boys had wayyyy to much fun with it...it was pretty funny! :) We also took a drive out on the beach and played in the sand for a bit. Stephen and Derek both got pulled over shortly after we got onto the beach, because they both slighty fish tailed in the sand. Boys will be boys!!! Honestly, it really wasn't anything crazy at all - they did it ONCE to have a little bit of fun. However, the cop did NOT like it and he called it "reckless driving" and gave them both a warning - he wasn't very nice about it either. :( Oh well, at least it was only a warning...and we got the message loud and clear.... :)

Boys pulled over...oops!

The trucks all lined up on the beach.

Cooper trying to dig out his frisbee in the sand! Pretty funny!

Stephen hitting golf balls into the waves/water

Love!

Bradleigh's 1st Trip to the Beach (all bundled and sleeping, of course!)

Enjoying the beach from INside the car :) Too windy outside for Little B

In the afternoon we all went clamming (well the boys and Kari did!) Little B, Gma J, and I sat in the car. Bradleigh slept majority of the 3 hour clamming adventure...besides it was too cold and windy for him to really be outside anyway. We couldn't get over how many people we out there clamming that day. There had to be hundreds of thousands. It was insane...there were cars and people lining the beach for as far as you could see!!!!

Passed out in the back seat (wearing his shades, haha)

Stephen, Derek, and Dad clamming away....tough work!! Kari got in there and tried it, too. Oh, and Aaron held the clam bag!!

 

Visiting Home

This weekend we took a trip over to the Westside to visit our families and watch the SUPER bowl! :) It was a nice visit with family - visiting the Grandparents, Great-Grandparents, and Uncles :)

We stayed an extra day - through Sunday night to watch the Superbowl at Grandpa T's and Nana's house. Grandma J and Grandpa G also came over to watch the game and visit. It was fun!

Watching the game with Daddy - he is VERY focused - me...not so much! :)

Hanging with Momma

Although the team Mommy and Daddy were rooting for didn't win....it was still a GREAT game and we had fun eating yummy food and hanging with family & friends to watch the game.

During our visit we also celebrated birthdays - Uncle Ry's birthday, My birthday, and Grandpa T's birthday! Such a busy time of year for Birthdays. :) I got a Baby Bullet as one of my Birthday gifts and I cannot wait to put it to good use. I have heard it works great and you can make weeks worth of homemade, preservative/sweetener free baby food, SUPER quick!!! Now, I just need to clear out some freezer/fridge space for storing food.

Aside from Snoqualmie Pass being quite snowy and nasty - it was a nice visit over! Can't wait until we can see the fam again....

Day of LOVE

Today has been one of the best Valentine's Days by far!! I am the luckiest Momma & Wife....I got to spend the day with two of the BEST men I know (and love very much)!!!! :)

I woke up early to go get Stephen and I Starbucks. Can't go wrong with Sbucks first thing in the AM! Boy was the drive through line unusually long this morning, too! Go figure.

Anyway, after I finally made it home and Little B ate, we let Daddy sleep in a bit longer before he had to get ready for work...and I made a yummy V-day breakfast. It included heart shaped blueberry pancakes (Stephen's FAV) and bacon of course. It was suuuuper yummy. :)

I also surprised Stephen by placing little notes of LOVE all over the house and in his wallet/work stuff - to remind him how much I think about him during the day and of course, greatly appreciate ALL he does to support our little family. We wouldn't be where we are right now without all his hardwork. Bradleigh and I are extremely lucky. :)

Bradleigh and I spent the day together - went for a little walk and to the grocery store, so I could get stuff for fondue dinner.

Bradleigh's Valentine present from Daddy and Mommy was - a little sock monkey. When I handed it to him in the swing...he automatically brought it close to him and hugged it. I had to snap a photo - simply TOO CUTE! Gotta love his V-day attire too - Mommy's LOVE Bandit!

 

I was suuuper surprised when Stephen arrived home from work with a gorgeous bouquet of various flowers. My heart truly swelled with happiness - they were so beautiful AND something other than just plain RED roses! A misture of pinks & yellows instead....I just love, love, love my man... he is very thoughtful!
(PS - I haven't received flowers on V-day since the 1st Valentine's after we started dating in 2006 - which is really not a big deal to me as I think they are WAY over priced - but I must admit it was VERY nice to get the surprise of flowers this year.) I must say...only getting them far and few between makes them that much more special. :) :)

We ended the night watching a movie and enjoying some cheese fondue, followed by German chocolate fondue dessert. I have to admit, I was a little disappointed with the outcome of both fondues. :( This was my first attempt at fondue, and I definitely have some learning and perfecting to do. The cheese was suuuuper stringy and wasn't as creamy as I hoped it would be. The chocolate called for butter and some cream to be added to it while boiling, but once I tranferred it into the pot the butter/cream seperated from the chocolate. It was a little disappointing....but we still ate and enjoyed it! ;)

It was a wonderful day full of love, laughter and joy...Love my hubby and little love bug, too!!

3 months old already!

We cannot believe we are already at month 3 of Bradleigh's first year!!! Time is going by so fast, but we are taking each day in at a time and enjoying every little moment of new milestones our son reaches. It is simply amazing to watch him grow into a little boy from a newborn.

Here are some of the latest updates in the past month. He is discovering so many new things in the world around him and it is SO much fun to watch... :)

• He is now sleeping 8 hours through the night! YAHOO! So much better than the 4-5 we were getting for the first month or so. :)
• He can see a few feet further than before and has gotten pretty good with turning his head from side to side, or towards a noise.
• He has discovered his fist/fingers and he has them constantly in his mouth, sucking away and drooling ALL over...
• He has developed quite the little laugh (not the belly laugh... yet!) and it is the cutest thing ever! He LOVES to laugh when Daddy makes silly noises or faces and when Mommy sings to him!!! :) He really enjoys noises and singing!!
• Bath time has become one of his favorite times of the day (aside from eating of course, haha). He has always really enjoyed bath time, but now that he has figured out he can splash with his feet and get water all over mommy & the floor - it is SO MUCH FUN! haha!

We have been trying to keep up with documenting all of his new developments and tricks...but it's sometimes overwhelming! Especially since he is learning and doing MANY new things at once.

This last week, we started giving him a couple ounces of formula (Gentlease - with broken down milk proteins) after nursing, because he was acting as if he wasn't getting enough to eat AND we wanted to see if it would help with his spitting up/tummy issues. Luckily, we only had a short period where he wasn't taking the bottle, but that didn't last long. He seems to be liking the formula too! Thank goodness :) He is one hungry boy and growing SO fast....

Smiley boy @ 3 months

 All about fingers in the mouth! :)

 Looking cute....as always!

Sitting up like a BIG boy - with support!

Bradleigh is more alert and aware of the dogs now... and of course they are interested in him, too! Bradleigh likes to watch them play and listen to them bark. Cabela is more intrigued by Little B than Maverick. She always likes to check him out and of course, clean up his spit-up and drool! hahaha!

Cabela sniffing his nose.

All bundled in my swing...

...and Cabela came to visit (and clean up my face) :)

It is still prrrretty chilly outside, but we have had a few nice days (in the 60's/70's) here and there. I try to get out and walk with Bradleigh any chance we can get. Not only is it nice to get out of the house for a bit...but it is making me excited for this Sprng/Summer when Bradleigh will be a little bigger and able to do more outside. He wasn't crazy about walking at first...but he is taking a liking to it the more I take him out! Besides....he will learn to like it, cause Momma needs to get active to work off these lingering preggo pounds! ;)

Heading out for a walk on this beautiful February day...

Happy boy!

We are looking forward to this month and all the new milestones Bradleigh will make! We will also be going on his first vacation here in a couple weeks and we are really looking forward to it. Until next time...