Mini Vacation

My brother is getting married in about a month in Spain. His bachelor party was Memorial Day weekend and Ryan was invited. Not wanting to pass up a 3 day sailing trip on an amazing sailboat in the Chesapeake Bay, and because he is not going to the wedding, he decided to go. And Caleb and I decided to go too! Not to the bachelor party that is, but to see old friends and hang out with my sister and soon to be sister-in-law.  The three of us girls rented a little house in Kinsale, VA and spent the weekend peacefully basking in the sun, sleeping, eating, and talking. 

The house we stayed in

 

Beach and water

 



 

 And the beach baby

 

 

Wish we could go back already! 

Water baby

Caleb LOVES water! River, sink, ocean, bathtub or toilet water, he loves it all! He is quite fearless, and seems immune to cold water. We know where we will be spending many days this summer, luckily there is both a great river beach and a nice (free) pool right here in Concord.

Here he is on his first adventure to the river this summer (we dragged him there last summer when he was a week old), he went with Ryan and his buddies to fly fish. I handed him, dressed in this stylin get up, to Ryan and said "as a result of your being Irish, you have to take this dorky kid to the beach." We won't discuss who actually brought the white white white skin to this gene pool (me), or the fact that Ryan's supposedly Irish skin gets instantly tan upon contact with the sun's rays (unfair, and also suspicious).

 

Here he is in Kinsale, Virginia (more on that later). The water was freezing, but he sat right down to splash anyways, resulting in a 15 pound diaper. I didn't think we would actually be venturing into that Arctic water. 



Maternity Monday

Once again I didn't get it together to photograph any of my outfits this week, Ryan was gone a bunch and I haven't really figured out a good set up for self portraits. I promise I did get dressed in something other than frumpy house clothes on several occasions this week. I had some time this weekend and decided to tackle my huge pile of repairs, alterations, and unfinished sewing projects. After repairing several things I have been promising Ryan for months that I would fix, I finished a skirt I started months ago and altered a tank top I got while pregnant with Caleb.

I was excited to find this stretchy lace at the fabric store many many months ago because it a allowed me to make a stretchy, comfortable maternity skirt that was not just plain ole jersey knit (ask my sisters how much I hate jersey maternity clothes).

This tank top I got at the tail end of my pregnancy with Caleb, when it was hot and I was huge. Its an XL Banana Republic I picked up in desperation at Goodwill. Needless to say, it had armholes that would have fit the Hulk. I previously always wore a cardigan to cover the Hulk holes, but decided that I didn't want to do that anymore. I took in the armpits and sides and added a little gather at the top of the tummy to help accommodate the growing belly. I should have taken a before and after picture of me wearing it, but please refer to the excuse mentioned above.

 

I hope every one's week is off to a good start!



Fresh

 

Is there anything better than a clean house complete with fresh flowers (even if they are technically weeds from your overgrown back yard)?

 

 

Now lets see if we can keep the house that way!

 

 

 

 

 

Laughter

Last post (way way late) for Haeley's "A Month in Pictures" link-up!

 

When I first saw this picture I nearly died laughing. What is going on in his mind, and how is a baby that little able to make such a sneaky evil face? My sister Hannah said that he is probably thinking "I wonder if I can reach my hand down mom's dress without her noticing?" Which actually seems quite fitting since he was getting very bored of this picture session and definitely was antsy to get going at this point.

 

Thanks for the fun link-ups Haeley!

Maternity Monday

We have had a very busy past couple of weeks (we went down to VA last weekend, blog post on that someday soon) and I haven't been organized enough to actually take any pictures recently. So instead I will just post a few items from my maternity wardrobe wish list.

Gap

 

MotherHood

 

Asos ( I want everything on their website)

 

 

 

On a completely unrelated topic, Ryan just started a security job at the law school a few evenings a week. Its great because its part time, and always after 5pm so it doesn't interfere with his internship at the Attorney Generals office and allows him to do the other from home part time jobs he has while he is already working. Its a tad annoying for me because it means he is gone until 10 or 11pm 3-4 nights a week. He can take a quick break for dinner though, so the last few nights Caleb and I have packed up some dinner and met Ryan at the park across the street from the school for a picnic dinner. We have decided that this is going to become our little summer tradition, so if anyone has yummy healthy summer salad recipes that are easy to take on the go, send them my way.

 

 

On another unrelated topic, both Ryan and I have found ourselves commenting on what a major change Caleb has gone through recently. It seems like in the span of two weeks he went from baby to toddler. We both will waste what feels like hours of time just watching his little personality come out more and more every day.  It is just small little things, but they often make me stop and catch my breath at how wonderful and precious he is. He loves to smother me with his "kisses" which are just wet slobbery licks, I catch him carefully watching everything I do, and when he sees that I see him watching he gives me this wise, knowing, adoring look. He has a little sense of humor, and has started to fake laugh when Ryan and I laugh, and gets shy and embarrassed when strangers talk too much about how cute he is. When Ryan comes home and Caleb hears Ryan's voice he quite literally yells and beeline crawls for him. I love watching the awesome and mutually adoring friendship developing between the two of them. Though Caleb has always been a very alert and curious little guy, he suddenly seems so much more aware of his surroundings and cannot get enough of watching, touching,  and exploring everything around him and sharing it with us. His favorite days are the ones where all three of us spend the whole day together, and there is a visible difference in his behavior when he senses that Ryan and I are relaxed and focused on each other and him. When Ryan and I kiss or hug in front of him he gets the biggest grin on his face and immediately crawls over to join in on the lovin. Best of all for me is that he will now snuggle without nursing! I can't get enough of that little head laying on my shoulder, or little hands stroking my face or hair. I am so glad that I get to majorly reduce my hours (from 30-40 down to 10-15) and focus on this special time with Caleb before number two appears on the scene and demands his or her share of the lovin too! 

 

Anywho speaking of those last four weeks of work, I got to get back to the grind!

 

I hope everyone has a blessed week.