Ben is 7 mos old

Our little man is growing so fast! I can't believe all the changes in him just in the past few weeks. Ben is really focused on crawling. He spends most of his day going from sitting to on his hands and knees doing the rocking motion. Crawling has got to be the cutest thing ever, and I know we're so close to it happening! He also is learning how to roll to get what he needs - Addisyn could never be bothered with rolling, so its neat to see Ben do it. We've been working on incorporating 3 meals along with Ben's milk. He now has fruits three times a day and veggies twice, with 1-2 servings of cereal. And boy does Ben love to eat!! I'm making all his food, just as I did for Addisyn. Ben is still my snugly little man, and I'm so thankful for that. I just love when he buries his little head into my shoulder, it just makes me melt! I've found that one of the most enjoyable things about having a second child, is watching the interaction between the two. Both Addisyn's and Ben's faces light up when they see eachother. He watches her all day and she loves to make him laugh. I just love watching them! And don't you just love his serious look...

Myrtle Beach Part 2

Myrtle Beach is packed with so many things to do that we actually ran out of time to go everywhere we had planned! A few of the places we did make it too were the Ripley's Aquarium at Broadway at the Beach, the Alligator Adventure, the Tanger Outlets (shopping is a must on vacation!), and Barefoot Landing.
After waking up our first morning at the beach to clouds, we decided to use that day to go to the aquarium. Fortunately the clouds passed quickly and we had beautiful weather the rest of the week. We went to the aquarium with my sister Kristen and her bf Matt. If you've never been here, the coolest part of the aquarium is the wrap around tank where you ride through on a conveyor belt and feel as if you are right in the middle of the ocean. Definitely worth the money!



Brad and I took the kids back to Broadway at the beach one evening for dinner and some shopping. Brad gets a henna tattoo every year on vacation, and this year we let Addisyn get one too! She picked a multi-colored Dora and was so proud of it! Another favorite event of the evening for her was feeding the fish and ducks.






Alligator Adventure was a back-up activity after we arrived a little too late to catch the boat for a dolphin watch. This place houses over 700 alligators of all sizes! If it wouldn't have been so hot that day, I probably would have enjoyed walking around and seeing all of it, but all my mind could think of was getting out of that heat!!


One of the funny things we ran into on the way out were these two turtles...no privacy for them!!!

Myrtle Beach Part 1

We took our first ever family vacation to South Carolina last week with my family and Brad's parents. All together, there were 18 of us! The week really could not have gone smoother. Brad's days were spent golfing with his dad while I toted kiddos to and from the beach and our pool. Fortunately, I had plenty of helpers! I have so much to write about so I'm going to divide the post over several days. So today I'll show you our beach house!
My youngest sister searched and searched for the perfect place to house all of us.

Our house was at one time 2 apartments, so the downstairs and upstairs had separate entrances. We had 4 bedrooms on each floor, along with a kitchen and living room. The upstairs had 2 baths, there were 3 on the bottom floor, and one full bath outside by the pool. Our house was the second row from the beach located within a private development.

The backyard had a gorgeous gazebo area with a pool and jacuzzi.


Our house may have not been the most modern or updated, but it was perfect for our week. I would gladly stay at the "Sunny" anyday!!

1st day of school!!!

Addisyn had her first day of class at St John's Nursery School. This year she's in a spin off of her Mommy and Me class from last year, All By Myself. We've been talking about it and really preparing her for her first time at school and when the morning started, she was more than ready! Addisyn walked into the classroom without hesitation and sat down to do some coloring. Nanny and I hovered for just a few minutes, then quickly said our goodbyes and were off. What a strange feeling it is to leave your child in a large facility under care of people you really don't know - I didn't cry, I think I was more in shock that she's growing so quickly! When we returned to pick her up, my baby girl had the biggest smile on her face when she saw me! Mrs Hazelton informed us that Addisyn had a few tears when she realized we were gone, but quickly recovered and enjoyed herself. She will go once a week for just a little over an hour - that's all the longer I'm willing to part with her for now!!! I'm so proud of her and overjoyed that she is growing and learning!

A few more shots...

A sneak peak of Ben's 6 mos pics...

The pictures are still in the works, but here are a few shots I've taken of Ben. I'm pretty happy with what I've gotten so far, but I still have a few more ideas in my head to finish them up! He's such an easy baby to photograph that it makes picking hard - but here are a few of my fav's!




And whats a post without a picture of Ben's stunning sister - really, this baby girl is drop dead gorgeous now - boy are we in trouble when she gets older!

Ben's 6 mos check-up

Ben had his doctors appointment today and is doing great! He's up to 20 lbs (the 87th percentile) and is 26 1/2 inches long (the 51st percentile). It seems so funny to me that Addisyn was always and still is off the charts, and Ben is average for length and just a little bigger in weight! Crazy how different babies can be. After 3 shots, Ben had a bit of a fussy afternoon. Fortunately his evening has been much smoother!
I'm hoping to get out some this Thursday to take a few more pics of Ben!