boy meets beach

chillin' this morning out on the porch with gmommy
we love hangin' out with gmommy! we can't wait to hang out with grammy too!
oy! did i really put on a bathing suit this season? yup, i'm white!
there's my chubby bunny!
gmommy and gdaddy on the boat ride over to the island yesterday. many thanks to Craig for giving us a ride. Yes, we brought my bike and gdaddy's. :)
check out this sand!
checking out the umbrella
mommy and caden just chillin' (daddy, notice the hat?)
Today was a day of new events for our boy (as was yesterday). Most importantly, we went to the beach for the very first time. We stuck our little feet in the sand and dug in out toes and ventured into the water (well, enough to get our feet wet). We laid under the umbrella and looked at the pretty colors. We wore our board shorts (i can't remember who gave them to us, but many thanks to that person! those shorts are TOO cute!). Caden started getting hungry, and tried to suck on mommy's shoulder... but then discovered that mommy's shoulder tasted like sunscreen! ICKY! So even though it was a beautiful day with a nice breeze, we didn't stay out too long. Uncle David drove us back to the house then took the golf cart back out to the Shoals. Thanks Uncle David!

In other news... He came as close to rolling over as one could possibly come without actually doing it. :) One day soon he's going to surprise me and make it all the way over. :) Alright, back to the boy... need to get some clothes on him. We took the board shorts off when we got home, but he's still just chillin' in his diaper. Maybe a onsie with trucks on it... yea, we need to go find that outfit. :) Love you Daddy!

more pics to hold you over...

not a particularly flattering shot of either of us... but hey, whatever
boy, i'm gonna miss this house
oh the fun we have at changing time!
who designs these silly things?
a view from above
chillin' on the deck
the beloved gazing ball and daddy's completed rock wall!
let's pinch mommy's cheeks
maybe if i cover her eyes...
yes, i'm hot, i know it!
awe, i feel the love!
can we figure out this car seat thing?
here are a few shots to hold you over for the week while i'm away. oh... and it looks like my parents accepted the offer that came tonight. (though with a bit of haggling... they wanted mom's gazing ball... and that just ain't happening!) so looks like, unless something weird happens, i will be moving to the ATL for a few weeks... in about 2 months! wow... how strange!

and sadly... aunt lizzie is heading to west palm this wkend. it will be really hard to see her go. i know it's a good time for an adventure. heaven knows, i moved all over the place after college... there was no tying me down. but i have really enjoyed having her around the last 11 months i have been home. and it's been great having her around with Caden.

speaking of the monkey... so tonight's bath time was interesting... he discovered that if he lifts his legs up and then brings them crashing down fast enough, he can make a major splash... one that will soak the bathroom floor as well as mommy... who in turn squeals bc she wasn't expecting it. this, of course, makes him repeat the process over and over and over again. yes, he was proud of himself. And Michael, i know you are laughing at this saying, "yup, that's my son!"

an evening torture, i mean tickle, session

thanks to auntie b for shooting these... :) it was great having you here, Bethany! Miss you terribly!
i know these are a bit on the dark side, but at least you can hear him laughing and yelling and making other wonderful noises. boy, he's like his mother... he loves to talk! :)

In other news... it looks like there is an offer coming in on the house this evening. we will see how it goes. these people want to get a contract in the works quickly, or at least that's what the agent is saying. But they don't want to finalize and move in for a few months... which would work out beautifully for me... as I would prefer not to move to ATL and then have to move up to Cville. But, I will do what i need to do.

We are heading to the beach in a few days. So no blogging for a while. Sorry baby! Will get pics and everything up as soon as we get home. :) Caden's first beach trip... kinda exciting!

the new jumper...

a tickle session

here are a few clips of our morning tickle sessions... we like to play in the morning. maybe one of these days he will really giggle for you rather than just screeching...

the dr office

those nurses... what are we going to do with them? 3 of them at once... coming at my poor little boy with needles! yup, today was round 3 of the shots! yucky! at least we don't have to do that again for another 2 months. we are sleeping now... and hopefully will continue to do so for a while!

On a happier note... we weighed in at 14.11 lbs and measured 24 inches long! So we are hanging in at around the 60th percentile mark. He's lighter than I thought he was going to be... but that's ok with me! As I am the one that carries him most of the time... my arms need more time to build up the strength to carry a +15lbs baby. :)

I forgot that I had taken these photos the other day. My sister has a butterfly chair that Caden now enjoys sitting in. It cradles him just enough that he can relax and yet sit up with the rest of
us... it's been really helpful when i want to eat dinner!

we love gorillas

yes, he's adorable!

an older shot

daddy took this shot when Caden was about 2 months old... but i just got it downloaded off his camera. thought it was worth sharing. :)

17 weeks... it's hard to believe

our little monkey is 17 weeks old this week! we have another dr appt on tues... should be fun! NOT! time for more shots... icky!
daddy officially put the last stones in the rock wall last weekend. after 3 years, it's done! it's been almost 2 years since my own Champion was helping daddy put stones into this wall...
a certain gorilla showed up yesterday... it's awesome! ironically, we were wearing our "hunky" gorilla shirt yesterday! THANK YOU Grandma and Grandpa Smalley! It's a most excellent gorilla! (he doesn't know what to do with it yet... as it's nearly as big as he is... :) makes for some interesting reactions! )

you can't help but love the face. but what really makes it is the line of drool...
munching on grandmommy's hand!
i am a little man! (and if you look at the larger image, again, you can see the drool starting to dribble out...)

hi daddy...

another one...

standing...

don't you just love his chubby legs... :)

we love you, daddy

how we spent our Fri afternoon and Sat morning...

I swear, this kid makes the greatest faces...

another morning in nc

this was a few days ago... notice how we have added squealing and screaming to our vocal abilities... that has certainly added a new bit of pizazz to our crying fits... let me tell you, oh joy!

a quick note...

As my little monkey is taking a nap (who knows how long that will last)... I thought I would drop in a quick line and see if I couldn't get some updated pictures up and maybe a video clip. It's hard to get clips that are small enough and still worth watching. So often he spots the red light or the camera itself and stops whatever it was that he was doing. But here goes... let's see if these work...

Green Lemonade

Green lemonade, made possible by Natalia Rose and her book The Raw Food Detox Diet.
Makes 1 serving

1 head romaine lettuce or celery
5 to 6 stalks kale (any type)
1 to 2 apples (as needed for sweetness - she recommends organic Fuji)
1 whole organic lemon (you don't have to peel it)
1 to 2 inches fresh ginger (optional)

Process the vegetables in a juicer. Pour into a large glass, and drink! Notice how the lemon really cuts out the "green" taste that most people try to avoid.

ok, so i have my own info that i will add to this... but in the mean time... here's the recipe. :)

when life gives you kale...

make green lemonade!
Our new juicer came yesterday, baby! Needless to say, I immediately made green lemonade for dinner last night... and for breakfast this morning! I am so excited for you to come home and try it. We get a lot more juice with this one... the pulp is almost dry when it comes out. Yes, I get excited about the little things. And since this one is a single gear masticating juicer, I can do all sorts of other things with it. Gonna try a banana/blueberry "ice cream" with it later this afternoon... will let you know how that goes. We can also make almond butter with it... though i think it's cheaper to just buy almond butter (and a heck of a lot less clean up). :)

And here's your little monkey the other nite... he had had his bath and we were in the home stretch for getting him down for the night. (yea, sure... you see how open those eyes are!) He does love hanging out with his Aunt Lizzie though. She makes him laugh. It's really cute to watch. It's going to be sad to see her move to Florida. He will miss her (and so will I!).

Alright... he's down for a nap... so I am going to grab something to eat and maybe catch a nap myself. I love you, my Champion!