Beach trip

There is no place better to visit when the weather gets warm than Charleston, SC.  Starring at the big mossy oak trees, breathing in the fresh smell of salt water, feeling the ocean breeze on your face, it is divine!  I have always said that I would LOVE to move to Charleston, but I am not sure that I would appreciate it as much if I lived there.  Luckily, we have lots of family in Charleston, and a family beach house, so we are able to visit often.  Although we never actually made it out on the beach, we had a great time.  We were especially happy to finally be able to see my Aunt Nancy.  Unfortunately, my Uncle Paul just lost his long battle with cancer and was never able to meet Brady.  We will all miss him so much.  But, we have been sending them pictures daily since he was born, and Brady was so glad to finally meet his Aunt Nancy.


I think he was happy to meet her!


Checking out the beach (Notice the little patch of dark hair left from when he was born- love it!)


He had fun playing the piano with daddy!

His Waldo is so silly and put these rings on his feet.

Before we got to the beach we stayed at my mom's house for two nights.  The only pictures I got were on my phone, so they aren't the best quality.  I was so excited to see my friend, Cady Nell.  She came over and had dinner with us Friday night, and also helped me give Brady a bath.  I love good friends that no matter how long you go without seeing each other, you just pick up where you left off.  This is definitely the case with me and Cady Nell, love her!!

He loves his Coco!  She is so funny!

He had so much fun with his "Aunt" Cady Nell

The Laugh




I love this laugh!  Brady was laughing at Coco (we decided this is what he can call my mom, Colleen, since she is very opposed to being called "Grandma") acting like a puppy dog.

Brady's First Easter

Today was Brady's first Easter, and his first trip to church!  We went to Paul's grandmother's church in Manning, and then to her house afterwards for lunch.  Brady was a social butterfly as always and loved seeing everyone.  Today more than ever I just thank God for how BLESSED we are.

Our family in front of the church

Me and my baby boy!

You know I love pictures of Brady with his cousins. (Brady, William, and Caroline)

3 Generations!

Brady and his second cousin, Kristen, who is also his Tuesday/Thursday babysitter.  He loves her and so do we!




I hope everyone had a happy Easter!!

First trip to the zoo

Today I took Brady on his first trip to the zoo!  Of course I did not bring my camera, but thank goodness for smartphones.  Paul was busy training on the golf course so he will be ready for the PGA Tour by next year's Masters Tournament :).  We were accompanied by Brady's Uncle Rut, Aunt Maggie, Nana, and cousins William and Caroline.  It was a such a beautiful day!


Of course we had to stop by and visit the giraffes.  (Notice Brady's giraffe outfit and giraffe lovey in hand.)


The next picture you will notice I am holding Brady's hand. That is because just before this he reached right out and grabbed that giraffe.  Luckily, he was preoccupied with someone feeding him a piece of lettuce to be bothered by it.


I just love seeing the cousins together.  Aren't these two precious??


Brady's New Tricks and Tuesday Ramblings

1. Brady is really into his dog these days.  His dog is not so much into him.  He is friendly to him, he just tries to keep his distance.

2. Riley has made Paul his new best friend.  He has moved his usual night time TV watching spot to Paul's couch.

3. Brady has learned how to grunt.  The first couple of days he did this I was worried that he was maybe constipated, but he had normal bowel movements (TMI?). Come to find out it was just a new skill he was working on.

4.  Anything and everything he can get his hands on goes directly into his mouth.  He also tries very hard to get his hands on EVERYTHING.  Once this boy is mobile, we are in trouble.

5.  He still does not like tummy time.  I try to practice with him everyday, but it usually lasts maybe 5 minutes.

6.  He does, however LOVE to stand up.  It would not surprise me if he learned to walk before he crawls.

7.  He can ALMOST sit up on his own, but he will still topple over if you don't support him.

8.  I LOVE being a mommy, especially Brady's mommy.  It is absolutely the best thing ever.

9.  He gets upset if you talk too loud in his presence.  I have a couple times yelled for Paul from the nursery and this has terribly upset Brady.  He puffs his bottom lip out and gets the saddest look on his face you have ever seen before busting out in tears.  I felt so bad!

10.  Paul and I finally went to church this past Sunday.  And no, I did not feel comfortable taking him to the nursery, so Paul's parents came over and babysat. (I know- overprotective first time mommy guilty as charged...)

11.  I am LOVING this spring weather and happy that I live in the south where we hardly had a winter this year.

12.  I have an online shopping addiction.  I am trying to get it under control, but sometimes my mouse just clicks away and next thing I know a UPS package shows up at the door!  Amazing how that works...

13.  Brady loves to blow spit bubbles.  This is one of his newest tricks.

14.  He still loves to eat anything and everything!  I am still cooking all of his baby food- it's so simple!

15.  I am still nursing and proud of it!  While he does get one formula bottle a day since pumping at work twice a day was just getting too difficult, he is still getting a majority breast milk.

16.  I never thought I would last this long nursing, but it gets SO MUCH EASIER.  Now, it is just second nature, and I look forward to that special mommy/Brady time when I get home from work.  I am not sure how long I will continue this (No, I am not one of those people who will breastfeed my child until he is 5...I am referring to the first 12 months here). As long as he is still enjoying it and it is not causing a major issue for me, I figure we will go with it.

17.  I can't wait to take Brady swimming for the first time soon once the water warms up a little bit.  He has several cute bathing suits and is ready to go when the time comes! (This directly correlates to the online shopping addiction mentioned above)

18.  I am in desperate need of a girls night out and am in the process of planning it now.  However, guilt always strikes me if I am not spending my every free moment with Brady, especially now that I am back at work.  I don't want to miss a moment with him!  He is growing too fast!

19.  I have a serious ITCH to buy a new house.  I have my realtor working on that for me.  I love where we live, but sometimes I feel like I could be on the show hoarders with how I have packed every (small) amount of storage space in our house to the brim.

20.  We signed Brady up for part time pre-school at Kathwood Baptist Church in the fall.  It was the first place we have gotten into since being on waiting lists for OVER a year. (Well technically the 2nd place, but the 1st place that I really wanted him to get into.) I am a little nervous about it, but I still have about 5 months to mentally prepare myself.

The Easter Monkey


While the Easter Bunny will come next weekend...


this weekend we have the Easter Monkey.


What a good sport...

 
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