Summer Vacation 2012...Beach Bums!

We spent a great week in New Smyrna Beach, Florida with my family! Steve and I were excited to go on our first vacation with the our two girls as a little family! It was an incredibly relaxing week of beach time, reading, playing with Bella and Evelyn, and eating (of course!)!

Bella's mantra all week was, "Come play with me!" She was very convincing when trying to get us to go play in the water at the beach, or tackle a playdough project back at the house.

Steve was Bella's #1 playmate this week! They had so much fun and literally spent hours playing in the waves!

It doesn't get much better than this! This is the only beach I've been to where you can drive right out onto the sand and it makes beach-going so much more relaxing! Especially with small children! We didn't have to worry about the amount of toys or gear that we brought, and it was really nice to be able to just slip into the backseat when I needed to nurse Evelyn.

It was a little different to have traffic lanes right on the sand, and we had to keep a close eye on Bella as she ran back and forth to the water.

I love this picture! It looks like she ran right to the edge of the water and then stopped suddenly!

Papa and Mimi got a ton of fun playtime in with Bella and snuggle time with Evelyn. Bella would tell Papa that he was "in big trouble" and then chase him around the room. Mimi was pretty much at Bella's mercy for whatever game or activity she was in the mood for! Stickers, coloring, and playdough animals were very popular! Right before we left, Grandma Wires sent a huge book of stickers and coloring pages, and Bella could barely be convinced to put them down! She was obsessed with them!

Bella and Steve dancing in the water.

Getting fun rides from Daddy and Papa!

Bella was hilarious with the different birds on the beach! She would yell, "Mama! Look! A bird! I gonna catch it!" She would run and run until we finally called her to come back to us.

"Mama! Come play sandcastles with me!" But that didn't keep her from knocking them down as fast as I could build them!

Evelyn did great! We brought along our bassinet so that we could lay her down in a cool spot, but she spent most of her beach time being held by Mimi, so I got a great chance to either play in the water with Bella and Daddy or lay in the sun!

It's Tough Being The Baby

Evelyn really has to suffer a rough life! This afternoon, Mel and I took the girls to the pool in our subdivision. Bella and Mel practiced kicking their feet in the water, and Evelyn laid on a beach chair with me.

Even with little kids running around and splashing, she fell asleep with her hat pulled down over her eyes.

Once we got home, she passed out again in Mel's arms. It's hard being that cute all the time!

I've posted a bunch of pictures on Facebook already, but I'll add vacation pictures to the blog soon!

Time Out For Princess Play

I've been working this week to pack for vacation and clean up the house. It means Bella has had to play by herself more, so we took a break today and played princesses in her bedroom. I love her imagination!

Showing off her hot pink heels.

She wanted a picture of her bear. Those eyes are so dramatic.

She loves looking in the mirror!

She's not about to let a princess dress hold her back from climbing!

"Mama, I tired!"



Playing with "Beast" (Or Belle from Beauty and the Beast.)

July 4th Celebration!

Steve and I agreed that our ideal July 4th celebration would involve a big cookout with friends and then laying on a blanket to watch the fireworks show. With two, small bundles of joy - not so much. :) It wasn't our best 4th of July celebration, but we still had fun moments!

After naptime, we took Bella and Evelyn to a festival in downtown Woodstock. There was a bouncy house that Bella LOVED, and a little art fair that we could walk around. We also found a booth selling snow cones, so my afternoon was pretty much made!

Jumping around in the bouncy house! She was so excited about the "tractor house"!

Evelyn wearing her cute little outfit to supervise Daddy working on the car this morning.

Asking if Mama wants her snow cone back. The answer was yes!

Bella and Mama...love my little firecracker!!! It was so hot outside, but we had fun!

Happy Birthday, America! In honor of your birthday, we took a picture together!

I wanted a cute, "matchy" picture with the two girls so badly!!! Bella can be a bugger when we want her to pose in front of a camera, so we had been preparing her all day. She did really well and actually cooperated, but Evelyn was not having it!

Bella kept asking, "Bevie sad, Mama?" (Oh yeah, when Evelyn was first born, we called her "Baby Evie", so Bella combined the sounds and started calling her "Bevie". Lesson learned.)

By the time all of that was over, we decided not to go see fireworks. I was a little disappointed, but Steve reminded me that we have the next 15 years or so to drag our girls to family memories under the fireworks. That's why I married my husband! He understands what makes me tick!

Enjoying The Newest Little Human

I love this stage! Evie is so responsive and smiles all the time now! The weekend gives us precious time together with all four of us!

Watching TV on Daddy's lap.

Kisses for the camera!

Look at that smile...I could just eat those little cheeks!

Working on those neck muscles in the Bumbo; best baby invention in the world!

We finally convinced Bella to sit in front of the camera.

Mama and little Miss Evelyn



Laying on my chest.

I was happy to finally get some pictures of us with Evie, and not just the baby laying there by herself.

It Just Keeps Getting Better

On Thursday, Bella walked into my bedroom with her sheep "feeding her boobie". She told me, "Mama, my sheep eats on my boobie. On my big boobie." Then, she looked at my chest (I was nursing Evie) and looked back at her chest, and said, "No, me have little booby; Mama have big boobie." 

Bella likes to play with Evie's swing and push her own stuffed animals in it. Today she kept demanding that I look at her, but I wasn't allowed to talk to her. Our conversation was..."Mama! Mama! Look at me! Look! No talkin' to me! Look! Nooooo! No talking!" She's such a laidback kid.  

"Show me" is also one of my favorites. She asks questions constantly; "why" and "where" are very popular words around our house. i try really hard to answer her with real answers without going crazy. If Bella's asking a question about an actual object, she'll say, "Show me, Mama. Show me." I love it.

She frequently tells us she loves us or misses us without being prompted. I love that she's getting older and understands more on her own! She is like a sponge...she soaks up everythign we tell her! (Which is why I try to answer her questions with the right answer!)

This is her attempt to look sweet and innocent when she wants something! It could be drinking all of my tea from McDonald's or trying to sqeeze her ornery little butt into Evie's seat.

How We Beat The Heat!

We had record highs in Atlanta this weekend! 105 and 106 degreess!!! We thought we'd take Bella to a matinee to stay cool inside. A lot of other people must have had the same idea, because the theater was packed! Luckily, we went to the cheap seats, so we only paid $1.50 for our tickets; that comes in handy when the baby starts to cry and you want to leave. We made it through about half of the movie, told Bella it was over (yep, we lied.), and distracted her with promises of ice cream. Stellar parenting, people.

Dumbest. Movie. Ever. I mean, it was awful.

The little kumquat munching on her ice cream cone.



Steve snacking on his strawberry milkshake.

It was a great day and we stayed cool! We're thankful that Bella is at the age where she can sit in a movie theater, but can also be convinced to leave early if that's necessary.