travel diaries | destin - part one

Well, our big summer trip has come and gone and it's taken me a couple of weeks to come to grips that it is over!

We've made great friends with several families at church and two of those families invited us on their yearly trek to Destin, Florida. We jumped at the chance to experience it with these beach-going pros and set out at the end of August for our first family vacation!

It was Davis' first flight ever and the first one that Beau will have any memory of (at least for a few years). They both did great and we arrived early Saturday morning in Panama City Beach.

We had some time to kill before the rest of the crew got there so we passed the time with lunch, wandering around Bass Pro Shops, and an ice cream/cupcake stop.

We were finally able to check-in to our beach house at 4 and we walked out to this view. We were ON the beach and we will never ever do it any other way. LOVE!

Ian, Beau, and Ellie. The 'big kid' crew for the week!

We took some walks on the beach that evening but saved the swimsuits for the next day. On Sunday, we were up and ready to spend the day on the beach!

How great was this bunk room for the big kids?!

We made a great decision to bring our cameras that work on wifi with us so every morning Davis would nap as we were going to the beach and we could watch him from our beach chairs as he snoozed. We were about 50 yards from the house so once he started stirring we could go up and get him to join the party. It was great being able to enjoy the beach and know that he was getting the rest he needed!

Davis was a FAN. He took one small bite of sand, decided that was enough, and spent the rest of the trip happily crawling (and walking - yeah, that's a thing now!) up and down the beach and straight into the waves as if it was nothing new. He is our beach boy!

We hosed the kids off every day after the beach and couldn't resist these burrito babes!

We all did our own thing while the kids took their afternoon nap and that meant I took some time to read out on the balcony. The weather was great and the view was perfection!

The next day we were up and at it again. 

This ship would go by every couple of hours with this GIANT TV screen displaying ads. It was hilarious to me!

The guys decided to put their heads together to make an 'epic' pool...and subsequently defend it from the children that wanted to play in the sand near it! ha!

The lovely ladies that included us - Jenna and Lindsay (and sweet sleeping Landon)

That night we went to a restaurant that had it's own beach! It was GREAT entertainment for kids that needed to run out more energy before bed.

here's where we ate those first few days:

Pompano Joe's

McGuire's Pub

Lulu's 

I've got TONS more pictures and a video to share, so check back for the rest next week! 

davis jeffrey | one.

Davis is O-N-E!!! 

Was that the fastest year ever, or what?! 

This past year with Davis has been so hard yet so rewarding. I've seen different parts of myself, of Beau, and of Mark during this last year while learning to welcome a new member to our family. Having two boys has been a fun, challenging, amazing adventure and I feel so blessed that I can experience it!

The first six months of Davis' life was tough for me as I was adjusting to everything I didn't know about newborns. Davis threw us for a loop with his early arrival, smaller birth weight (and still below average weight), dairy intolerance, sleep issues, and general discomfort. We were on a rollercoaster for those first six months but I'm so glad we were able to figure things out and make Davis comfortable. 

Davis is the sweetest little boy. He has such a sweet and happy disposition that even though I remember Beau being a good baby all around, I never remember just thinking he was so. dang. sweet! Davis' whole face lights up when he smiles and he has this wide grin that he flashes especially in the mornings. He is always eager to see someone enter the room and will crawl towards them or stand up to greet them. He loves to bounce or bop along to music and if he's standing up he'll alternate picking up his feet to dance. It's so cute!

He LOVES people and enjoys being held but also LOVES wiggling and moving constantly. He is always on the go and I rarely see him sitting still anymore. I haven't been able to rock him to sleep or hold him while sleeping since he started crawling, so for a good 4 months!

He loves balls, our robot vacuum,  and opening and closing doors. He also loves any toy that Beau is playing with and already knows how to 'drive' cars with the accompanying (and necessary) noises. He loves putting toys/things into anything he can find. If there is a bucket, basket, toilet, bathtub, etc., he will try to put whatever is nearest into it. 

He's been using his walker for about a month now and is getting so close to walking! We've been catching him standing unassisted for several seconds so we think once he realizes he can take steps, he will. He seems more willing to attempt things and see if he can do them than Beau was, who wanted to master something before he tried to do it (his 'first steps' were about 15 steps across the room). 

He's saying 'ball', 'mama', 'dada', 'bubba', I THINK 'Beau' and he will bark 'ba, ba, ba!' at anything resembling a dog. He babbles a lot and has the funniest 'conversations' with himself. 

He slept through the fireworks (inside) for his first fourth of July but enjoyed the parade and the swimming. He'll take his first plane ride in August when we go to Destin for a week and I'm crossing my fingers he's mastered walking by that point and we can enjoy a slightly less sandy beach trip. :)

Davis is independent and plays SO well by himself when Beau isn't around. He plays well with Beau too, but Beau doesn't reciprocate well. We know they will be great playmates soon, though!

We are so thankful for this sweet boy and have loved this last year with him. We cannot wait to see him grow even more over the years to come. We love you, sweet Davis!!!

*thank you so much to my sister Angela for capturing these amazing pictures of Davis for us! 

davis jeffrey | 11 (and a half) months

Well, I'm late posting this again, but who's really surprised? (DISCLAIMER: I actually wrote this several days ago and ended up having technical difficulties getting my pictures to download, so here I am now!) (DISCLAIMER PART 2: I worked on this and then forgot about it...and I need to publish it before his birthday TOMORROW!! eeeks!)

Davis is 11.5 months old now and is growing up before our eyes! 

He's got a whole FOUR teeth, is pulling up, cruising, using his walker and anything else that can get him up and moving. 

He's found a new appreciation for food and really enjoys any pouch we give him but of course wants to use the spoon himself. #mess

Davis is WHINY. Always has been, hopefully will NOT always be. He uses his whining to communicate which I think is partially my fault for not being as proactive with the sign-language as I was with Beau. He has said his first definite word, which is BALL, and it's also one of his favorite toys. He also loves his brothers cars or anything with wheels. He's been caught making car sounds and driving cars around, which I think is so cute. He's really into opening and closing doors, books, etc. but he hasn't shown any interest in reading books yet. 

Davis has been cleared by the GI doctor on his dairy/soy issues and we are weaning him off of formula! He is completely off Neocate (amino-acid based formula) and onto Nutramigen (hypoallergenic with traces of milk) with a tiny bit of Gerber Good Start (typical milk based formula) added. We are increasing the amount of the Gerber little by little and will eventually start replacing it with whole milk. He eats cheese and baked-in dairy and soy with no issues but I'm a little gun shy on yogurt so we'll try that later. The good news is that Nutramigen is the magic sleep formula so he's been sleeping through the night!!! We are so happy that he seems to be outgrowing this issue that has been such a major bullet point in his life this first year. I'm ready to never think about dairy issues again #fingerscrossed

He is still crawling around like a madman and I'm afraid he will have permanent scars on his knees and tops of his feet because he rubs them so raw! He doesn't seem to care, though. 

He weighed in at 21 lbs 3 oz and 30.5 inches tall right around 11 months which puts him about average! It's just under what Beau weighed at 6 months old...haha! But he has really started chunking up and outgrew a lot of his clothes overnight. He's in 12 months, 12-18 months, and a few 6-12 month stragglers in brands that run large. 

He's waving, clapping, signing more and all done, and 'patting' his life away whenever he feels like it. We've witnessed him 'barking' along with Motley by saying "Ba, ba" over and over. I've also heard "bubba" multiple times but not too sure if he is really using it. 

He loves to bop along with the music when he's sitting down and recently has been brave enough to dance and hop from foot to foot when standing up and holding on to something. 

Davis is taking 2 naps a day, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. Bedtime always just depends on when his nap ended and he sleeps until around 8am. 

He loves people and being held but he usually has to check you out for a few minutes before he gives up a smile. He doesn't seem to be too clingy and will almost always go to anyone that will take him. He does play coy occasionally and will give a sweet smile and then turn and bury his head in my shoulder.

wearing an old outfit of daddy's for Father's day