The long and short of it

It's been over a month ago now, but we decided to do a quick Mommy & Reed photo shoot.  I had a good excuse to do more of a "formal" shoot with Reed. I was about to chop all my hair off so I wanted to capture it.  Because, well....my hair may never be quite THIS long again. We'll see ;)

My poor Reed was not feeling well this day, but I think the fresh air and my silliness helped.
I did end up donating my hair weeks later...I think I cut somewhere around 12-13 inches off when it was all said and done. Big thanks to Stephanie; I now have a fun, sassy and mature haircut. I feel like a woman! I am now free to turn that big age in 5 months ;)

For now enjoy the long and come back for a post on the short of it soon!

I love those toes

A break from life at the Beach

I'm going to try and let the pictures tell the story, but this trip to the beach was precious. It was just what the 3 of us needed. We spent some quality time together and really benefited from it.


 The drive to the beach took 6 hours, when it should only take 2 ½ but we left on the Saturday after a very intense storm that knocked out the electricity all over. We had a screaming toddler that needed to stretch his legs on the way there. But in the end, he was a sweet pea each day we were there. It was obvious that he was thriving from all of the attention and our willingness to just drop it all and play with him 24/7. I’ve never seen him happier. He smiled/giggled and danced for us A LOT. He wanted to eat watermelon all day long. He held onto my legs everywhere I walked in the condo and thought it was hilarious if I started walking funny.  He loved the sand/pool/food, hesitated at the Ocean but then happily sat between me & Bry as the waves snuck up on us. He was the official greeter at every place we ate, gave generous waves and blew me kisses on demand. He enjoyed sharing our smoothies, grilled cheese sandwiches and black bean burgers. When he wasn't busy discovering something he wanted to be in my arms and I let him...I spoiled the kid silly. It was a grand vacation. 

Oh! And our sweet niece Addison Quinn Demers was born.  She's a July 3rd girl!  She is a true beauty and I can't wait to dress her up and get to know the little girl she will become.

Campin' time

So let's rewind about a month.....

Last year I lost my mind and took my 5 month camping. Reed's first camping trip. And he ended up loving it.  It was such a nice change of pace so we decided to go for it again this year.

We left on a Saturday and it took us a lot longer than we anticipated. With traffic and a busy bodied toddler we had to make a nice long stop on the way there. We ate lunch and let Reed stretch his chubby legs. He wasn't a happy camper (hehe) at this point, he wanted out of the car bad. After our stop we had to keep going so I eventually slid in the back of the car and tried my best to entertain him while Bryan drove. I did manage to get a ton of giggles out of him, but he was making me work hard for em.

We finally got there and we were so happy. The weather was a bit colder than we assumed it would be, so we didn't head off to the pool or the water park. We let Reed out and his exploring began. Kerry & Linsay and crew were also there in a bigger than my house mobile home. ;)

Trips away from home and the norm always surprise me. It takes a lot to prepare for them but when I get wherever we are going I am so happy to just "be" with Reed rather than worry about what I should be cleaning, cooking or what laundry I should be doing. I need to have this mentality at home as well. Make a Reed day and nothing gets done but spending time with Reed. I focused on him and had an amazing time with that little guy. He has such a funny little personality. He doesn't hold back his excitement, he shows all. He laughs and "har har's" at birds, food, horses, etc. It's so true that when you have children you see life in a different way. A fresh new perspective.

Falling asleep in my arms on our golf cart ride

"So, Brayden....what you got there?"

"Oh. I like popsicles."

"Just a little?"

"Oh my goodness, look at it! PLEASE?"

It was a lot colder than we thought it would be, thankfully my Dad was prepared with coordinating flannels. Now we're really camping. ;)

Reed actually settled into his pac & play at night and went to sleep. He did have a scary dream at 4am, at which point I "tried" to soothe him back to sleep. I then picked him up and put him in "bed" with Bryan and I, and while I was scooping him up to lay him down I noticed an enormous smile on his face. He was thinking "sucker, I got what I wanted". We don't.....ahem, Bryan doesn't let me bring Reed into bed, so he got a free card since we were camping. Reed thoroughly loved this. What a silly huge smile it was.

 

It was a Happy Father's Day to this guy. ;)
(And you can't tell but I had a Reed on my back here. )