Five, the Baby Edition

An e-mail challenge that I thought I'd post here...first, the baby edition. Later, the toddler edition.

FIVE FAVORITE BABY ITEMS

1 - Swaddle Me wraps/Halo Sleep Sack with swaddle wrap

2 - Bum Genius diapers

3 - Baby Bees lotion & shampoo

4 - zip-up sleepers (no snaps to line up, yay!)

5 - glider chair

FIVE FAVORITE BABY "TOYS"

1 - jumperoo

2 - old walker from the Hershmans - takes up very little space compared to newer walkers!

3 - Donna's old play gym

4 - bouncy seat (we got a "new" one from a garage sale, yay!)

5 - Bumbo seat

FIVE THINGS WE COULD HAVE LIVED WITHOUT

1 - an abundance of terry cloth bibs (I kept the special ones from family, but gave away everything else...who needs 75 tiny bibs for one baby?! I'd rather they go to someone who needs them!)

2 - prefold "old-fashioned" cloth diapers (I have no patience...)

3 - Boppy pillow (I only used it as a place to set Alex...it never helped with feeding him!)

4 - baby monitor (although we use it now with Alex in his toddler bed)

5 - bottles (remember my non-bottle drinker? sigh.)

FIVE WISHES (should I happen to win the lottery that I've never played...)

1 - more BumGenius diapers

2 - a few more thick hooded towels & thick baby washcloths

3 - cute, boyish burp clothes (SO not a need, but I'm jealous of the cute girly ones that Kat & Karen have!)

4 - Joovy Caboose stand-on stroller (not a need, but sure would be nice...this sage colored one on Amazon is beautiful...hint, hint...early birthday gift for your wife, Keith!

5 - a second big boy carseat

Baseball!

We wanted to make sure that our family experiences lots of fun activities this summer before Baby Bob arrives. Myrtle Beach & Wisconsin Dells were definitely the "big" events, but we're also trying to do some things a little closer to home.




Last night, we went to the Railcats game. Keith can get $5 tickets through work from time to time, and we usually try to invite family or friends to go with us. This time, Grandma & Grandpa S came along...and so did Emma! This was Emma's first "real" baseball game, so she was pretty excited.




For July 17th, the weather was not at all what you would expect. It was in the low 60s, gray and drizzly. Looking around the stadium and seeing how everyone was dressed, you'd think it was October!




The game was fairly boring, but there were a few exciting plays...and the Railcats won! The mascots, Rusty and Rascal, kept Emma entertained...and Alex was amused, too. (Although Alex would have been just as content watching the trucks on the highway and the airplanes flying overhead, silly boy!)


Alex mostly wanted either Grandpa or Mama. Poor Daddy and Grandma didn't get much of his attention. Grandma bribed him with a juice box and played with one of his favorite books. These pictures turned out a little blurry, and I am SO disappointed. Alex's delight was so sweet!







After the Friday games, there is a fireworks show...and I'll never complain about an opportunity to see fireworks! It's so tempting, though, to watch Alex's face instead of the fireworks. He just smiles away!


Wisconsin Dells post is coming soon, and our next "big event" is the demolition derby at the fair...hopefully perfect for the boy who loves all things car & truck!

Myrtle Beach, backwards

So...I upload all the pictures and caption them, only to realize that they are all posting in reverse order. I should have known they'd do that, but I forgot...so be prepared for our "End To Beginning" vacation.

Our little clown making us laugh while eating his fruit leather

one last hotel "car" ride



In case you ever wondered where Batman lived...



signing "daddy" while watching his Baby Signing Time DVD

signing "more" while watching his Baby Signing Time DVD

Our Family in front of Avista Resort

Our "Fancy" pizza dinner...

where the pizza buffet was pretty good, and the kids enjoyed the games

Alligator Adventure

Kevin & Leanne's family at the Alligator Adventure

Alligator!

burying Jessica in the sand

playing in the sand

chillin' in Grandma's chair

adorable sandy toes

The "cool kid" who couldn't leave his sunglasses on for more than about 30 seconds

Uncle Kevin started this game with Alex, and Alex loves to point back

Jessica & Kyle - Lazy River

Jessica & Kevin

Our Little Family

showing off his shell

smilin' at Papa

Grandma & Papa at the beach...

Alex watches as the boat docks at the end of our dolphin cruise

on the dolphin cruise

on the dolphin cruise

on the dolphin cruise

I love the SPLASH in this picture :)

first day at the beach...and learning how to play with sand

riding his toy train in the condo...

which Mama thought was a crazy item to pack, but Daddy was right...

good choice, Keith!

pretending to sleep on Daddy's pillow at the hotel

in our hotel room

proudly riding the "car"

sharing Daddy's birthday cake & ice cream
(THANKS, Jessica, for making the cake!)

Slepeing in the car, all snuggled with his ducky

Keith's parents celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary this spring, and they invited the family to join them for a week in Myrtle Beach, SC. They had stayed at Avista Resort in the past, and they wanted all of us to experience it, too.

We started out by driving to Louisville, KY on Saturday night. We went out for dinner, had cake & ice cream at the hotel, and some of us swam in the chilly pool water. The next morning, we all attended Southeast Christian Church. I'm not too big on mega-churches, but this place is something special! I think we all very much enjoyed church that morning! (Well, Alex may be the exception. He was so cute on the way to church. I'd told him we were going to church. When we pulled into this gigantic parking lot and he saw a big strange building, he shook his head no, as if he understood that this wasn't our church. He happily went to the nursery worker, though...but only lasted half the service. So Mama & Alex listened to the second half of the sermon from the back of the worship center.)

We spent two days finishing the drive to Myrtle Beach. Alex was a pretty good little traveller, and both Keith & I were impressed. He'd play, nap, snack, and we'd let him watch one 30 minute DVD each day when he was reaching his breaking point. We'd usually try to stop for about an hour at lunchtime so Alex had time to wiggle.

We then had 4 nights at Avista Resort. We stayed in a 3 bedroom condo with a beautiful view! You can see the ocean from every window, there is a balcony that overlooks the pools & small lazy river, and there are also an indoor pool and indoor lazy river. Alex (and Mama) both really enjoyed the bathtub-warm water of the indoor lazy river.

We spent most of our time just enjoying the beach and the resort. Kevin & Leanne's family and Keith went jet-skiing...which wasn't really a good idea for a 7 month pregnant lady...so Alex and I just stayed at the condo. He took a nap while I read. Later in the week, Kevin & Leanne's family went parasailing. I soooo badly wanted to try this, and so did Keith, but we'll save that for a time when we can both go.

Alex loved watching the airplanes and parasails over the ocean every day. We answered lots of "Whatzat?" until he finally understood the word airplane. It's nice, because now he can spot an airplane in the sky when I point it out.

We visited Alligator Adventure, which is home to more alligators than I've ever seen in one place. They had a whole section of juvenile alligators, another with larger alligators, and also many other animals and birds. The albino alligators were very interesting, too, as they are very rare. (I believe you're supposed to pay an entry fee, but no one was tending the booth when we arrived. It's not until we were leaving that I realized we may have just "stolen" our visit. Now we're thieves.)

And, mmmm, let me tell you - Grandma knows how to pick a good pizza place! Or at least she knows how to make good family memories! We ate most of our meals at the condo, but she wanted to pick a special pizza place on our last night. I admit, this place sounded pretty good from the ads...and it was pretty tasty! It's just funny because the "nice" pizza place turned out to be very similar to Chuck E Cheese! It was still good, and we thank you for the yummy dinner!

I'm sure there's more to say, but this post is over a month late as it is...feel free to add more to the comments if you think I've forgotten any important details! I'll link you to the pictures at Kodak Gallery soon...or remind me if you don't see a link in the next week or two.

A Finale In The Middle (Happy 4th!)

Well, it wasn't a beautiful day. It was overcast in the morning, turning to rain just in time for a family get-together at Uncle Jim's house. Although a few people braved the pool in the 67 degree weather, Keith & I did not. Brrrrr.


We still had fun at Uncle Jim's house, just sitting around and talking...eating...playing a game...and enjoying new baby Cailin. She's now 2.5 months old, and it's the first time I've seen her since the hospital nursery. Now it's hard to think of Alex being that small at one point, and it makes me grateful we'll have another small one soon!

We headed home for a fancy dinner of leftovers. Usually, we go to my parent's house in the evening on the Fourth of July. We have dinner together, then head to my sister's house and walk from there to the town fireworks. We opted not to do that this year, as I've been living in our little town for 5 years and have never seen the fireworks here. So, of course, it rains. And rains. And rains.


After we were lounging around in comfy clothes and Alex was already in his jammies, we decided we'd give it a try anyway. The weather map showed the rain would probably stop just in time for the fireworks. We'd given up time with my family so that we could see the fireworks show here. It's only a once a year event. We can sit at home and be boring any old night, but this was an opportunity to go have fun. So...we piled in the car, waited in the church parking lot for the rain to stop, and (thankfully) had dry weather for the show.


I'm so glad we went! First of all, we would have missed something better than the fireworks if we hadn't left the house:

Sorry for the shadow across the middle - my old software was very easy to use when "stitching" 2 photos together. Photoshop is a little trickier for me! This was actually a double rainbow, but it was fading by the the time we stopped to snap a picture. Isn't it beautiful? It's so rare to see the entire rainbow!


Second, we had fun! Jessica & Grandma joined us, Alex had fun with a balloon, and we got to watch the sheer DELIGHT on Alex's face as he watched the fireworks. He had just a brief moment of fear at the beginning, but after that...it was all smiles! That grin was plastered on his face the whole time!

When there was a pause in the fireworks, our little cutie would sign "MORE PLEASE MORE MORE PLEASE!!" He did a lot of clapping, too!

Some sort of mix-up meant that the finale was in the middle of the show, and the remainder of the show was a rather random mix of occasional fireworks. It was hard to tell when the show was actually over until we saw the fireworks guys packing up and driving away. (That was a pretty good clue, ha ha!)


Alex said "Boom!" the whole way home. I don't know if he wanted more fireworks, just liked saying "boom", or was catching glimpses of some of the fireworks people were setting off in the distance. We do know he LOVED it!


So, it wasn't quite the 4th of July we expected to have...but it was still a great day!


How was YOUR 4th of July?

Uncle Tony

Alex loves his Uncle Tony. We don't visit very often, but Alex has had a few opportunities this summer to spend some time with his uncle doing "guy stuff". Uncle Tony just sent us some pictures today, so we're posting them for you to see! Thanks, Uncle Tony!

Checkin' out Uncle Tony's "cool car"

Ringo & Maggie (Deb & Tony's dog, our dog - the dogs are "brother & sister")No, the lawn mower is not running :)

Alex loved getting pushed around on the mower.
Pretty cool stuff when you're a toddler boy...

(I still need to do posts for Myrtle Beach & Wisconsin Dells. It just takes so much brain power to write a post for an entire vacation! Both posts are started & in draft mode, waiting for me to add more text & pictures. Soon...I hope!)