Afternoon at the Beach

This past month, we have tried 2 beach afternoons. The first one was an utter failure except for the fact that we did at least have good company with us, Ben and Jess. But Curtis did not like it. He liked the sand ok, but once Isaac took him down to the water, he lost it and never really recovered. We may have stayed a half hour before bailing because he was just too fussy. But this past weekend was completely different. Mom and Dad came up for the weekend so we decided to try the beach again because it's one of mom's most favorite places. Curtis actually seemed to like it. We let him just play in the sand for a while so he could get used to it, but after a little while, Dad took him down to the water and he seemed to be fine with it. Isaac and I were both surprised, but excited that he didn't break down. So the afternoon was a success. It was fun to see Curtis exploring the sand and figuring out what it was.

Also, bonus for the weekend. Isaac and I got a date night :) We love when grandparents come to visit so we can go out for a night. We tried a new restaurant in Norfolk, Island Krave (new to us, not new to Norfolk). It is my new favorite place to go. The food was amazing, the price was affordable and the service was friendly. I would recommend it to anyone looking for a dinner spot in Norfolk.

Here's some beach pictures:

The Perez's

This Family:

I love them. They are some of my most favorite people ever. Every single one of them. I love the story of how they met. I love the story of how they eventually began to date and then really just a few months later, married. I love how they wasted no time having sweet Lucy. I love that Brenna and I went through our pregnancies with Prudence and Curtis together. I love Prudence's story and how many lives, including my own, she has changed by her willingness to fight for her life. I love how this family gives every acknowledgement to God they can for the life they have. I love how God has been glorified through their story. I love how God uses them and will continue to use them in the future.

It is a privilege to know them, be apart of their lives and to be able to do life together (as much as 400 miles of separation will let us).

This is their first family of 4 photo shoot. It was a fun filled afternoon walking around Old Salem. As always, when our 2 families get together, it was a little chaotic with Lucy running around, Curtis talking and screeching trying to get attention and Prudence just chillin, taking it all in.

We took a few pictures of these 3 while Prudence finished her nap

Lucy is such a good big sister

She is one of the happiest babies ever

Seven Months of Blessing

Our Little Man is 7 months old today. I am amazed every time I write a blog how quickly time flies. It still seems like just yesterday the nurse was handing him to me. He was so incredibly tiny. And now, I wonder where did that tiny baby go. He's now this chunky, smiley, opinionated baby that barely even resembles that tiny miracle I held shortly after 7:20 seven months ago.

This seventh month has brought many new things with Curtis. He's starting to eat more and for the most part loves solid food. He has learned to screech very loudly and likes to entertain himself that way. He has learned to blow zerburts and will wake up doing that in the mornings. He is learning to crawl. He hasn't quite mastered it yet, but if he really wants something, he figures out a way to get it. Watching that is one of my most favorite things right now. And he has 4 teeth, so that has been interesting in terms of nursing him. He's definitely bitten me, so we're working on that.

I was reminded at church yesterday how much of a blessing Curtis is. It's very easy in the mundane routines of life to forget that. When we pretty much do the same thing, day in and day out, waking up earlier than anyone ever should, getting up during the night, having to plan any outings around nap time and praying he doesn't completely break down and start screaming where ever we do end up going. All of those things are worth it. I look at my sweet baby boy with his curious eyes, wanting to be in everything and know all that's going on and I know that I couldn't be any more blessed. Every day, even in the routine, is an adventure with him. I wouldn't trade the sleepless nights, and days spent having to hold him all day so he doesn't scream for anything. I don't wish for an easier baby because that's not what God gave me. God gave me my loud little boy who is all boy and I love every day that I get to watch him discover this world.

On another note, we just got home yesterday from spending a few days in NC with family. It was such a great few days! We spent one day with our friends, Juan and Brenna and their sweet girls at Old Salem. I did their first family of 4 photo shoot and will be putting those pictures up hopefully by the end of this week. We got to see Grandma Creed and Curtis just seemed to love her and it's always great to see her face light up when she sees him. We got to spend tons of time with Jonathan, Melissa and their girls, babysitting and letting cousins have their play time together :) We went shooting at Jonathan's house and I finally got to shoot Isaac's AR-15, which was tons of fun! The weekend was filled with sweet memories and I'm so thankful for our time there before Isaac's schedule becomes crazy busy next week.

May Changes

This has been a wonderful month so far, with more wonderfullness to come with our approaching trip to NC to see my parents and spend some long overdue time with the Perez's.

I haven't really found a month yet where Curtis doesn't change a ton, but this month change seems to have happened exponentially. He has started eating solids and most of the time really likes what I feed him. He loves avocados and sweet potatoes. He likes bananas, and tolerates butternut squash, but I haven't figured out a good way to serve that yet. Next month we'll be trying more fruit, along with eggs to get some protein. He has gone back to giving me longer stretches of sleeping most nights, which I am incredibly grateful for. He still has his nights where he wakes up twice, but if he wakes before 5:30, it's usually only once, and the mornings he sleeps till 5:30 or 6 are wonderful! I never thought I would feel rested getting up that early, but when it's either that, or waking up a few times during the night and still getting up at 5:30 or 6, I am thankful for whatever sleep I get. He has begun rolling all over on the floor so we can no longer leave him on the couch or bed unattended. He's working on crawling and I think will get it in the next week or so. You can tell he wants to crawl so bad, but just hasn't figured out how to get that second knee to go forward without then falling on his face, but I think it will happen soon. Then Peaches' life as she knows it will be over, she has no idea what she's in for. When Peaches comes around Curtis she sniffs at him like he's another dog and she lets him touch her face, but she's not gonna know what to do when he starts moving all over the place. He's also started really being able to entertain himself more while rolling on the floor, so I can get some stuff done while he's awake. Some of his favorite things right now: putting any and everything into his mouth, eating avocados, scaring Peaches with loud noises, shrieking very loudly and then laughing at himself, being tickled and playing peek-a-boo.

This past week, Isaac's parents came to visit. It was such a wonderful visit. I love that, for now, it's possible for both us and them to fly back and forth so Curtis will know his grandparents. Nono (Isaac's dad) makes some of the funnest noises which entertained Curtis greatly and Nana (Isaac's mom) loved to take Curtis and walk around when he was getting fussy. I love seeing Curtis so happy with his grandparents. We took an overnight trip to the Outer Banks with them which was filled with memories. Curtis did much better than I thought he would. He only seemed to break down when he was really tired and actually let me feed him some in public without getting too distracted, so that always helps. I am learning to love the adventure of traveling with Curtis and am grateful for grandparents who are very flexible when it comes to travelling with him and who do everything they can to make him laugh so he doesn't break down. It's such a huge and welcomed help.

A few pictures from May:

Happy baby eating his avocados

My Mother's Day picture

Showing off his Popeye shirt from Aunt Lydia

Curtis and his Nana

If you look closely, it looks like Curtis is trying to latch on :)

Isaac is so sweet to wear Curtis when we're out together to save my back

Curtis and Nono

Happy Half Birthday, Baby!!

Today, Curtis is 6 months old. It doesn't hardly seem possible that a whole half year has gone by with our sweet baby in this world. Every day with him is an adventure, every outing is an adventure. And I love every minute of it.

So many things have changed with him this past month. He has begun rolling over, so we've had to stop swaddling him to go to sleep. The first night went horribly, but since then, it's almost as if he were never swaddled; he sleeps just like he always did. He's finally begun sleeping better most nights in his crib. I think he's getting used to having all that space. He's still not sleeping through the night most nights, but last night, he did, and it was wonderful! We woke up at 5:30 this morning and it felt so good to get that much sleep. I never thought I would be excited to sleep till 5:30, but after waking up atleast twice a night almost every night, that was the best sleep ever!

Last night, we began the journey of trying solid foods. I gave him some peas, and his reaction was priceless. The taste of them made his whole body twitch and his face scrunch up. Needless to say, he was not a fan. I tried to put some cinnamon in them to make it taste better, but I think he was already ruined on them. We'll try again tonight, but I'm not anticipating that it will go much better. He will eat a pretty big bowl of oatmeal, so if the peas don't work, at least I can resort back to that.

The one other big change this past month is that he's really begun entertaining himself more. I've been able to put him down for as long as a half hour to get some housework done or have my morning cup of coffee without him completely breaking down, so that has made my day much better.

Here's a few pictures from the last month:

This was the best 6 month picture I could get. Curtis just wasn't really interested in cooperating or giving me a smile for this picture. We tried a few different times, but he just wasn't having it.

There are a few of the others that I just though were funny because it shows he just really did not want me taking his picture :)

Ready for church this past Sunday

A few from his 6 month mini photo shoot. Again, he really didn't wanna give me a smile

I looked up from making dinner last night and found Isaac and Curtis cuddling on the floor. The sight was too sweet to not capture it on film.

Our First Trip Without Daddy

It's always hard being away from Isaac. When we got married, I knew it would be a big reality in our marriage, considering his pending 7 (which turned into 8) month deployment. But since he's been home, we haven't really been apart except for duty nights, which were once every 5th night until recently, where it's changed to every 4th. With that said, I'm kind of used to being away from Isaac, but any time away from him is hard. He's my husband, my love, my sanity when Curtis is screaming or waking up every hour or 2. He is the best Daddy I know, helping out so much with Curtis. He loves spending every second with him that he can and is so involved. So when he's gone, or we're gone, it's hard. We miss him, both Curtis and I and I know he misses us. But I am thankful for a husband who is ok with me taking our 5 month old to NC to celebrate his Great Grandma's 89th birthday. Because as hard as it is to be away from each other, it was very important that Curtis and I be able to celebrate my Grandma. She is a very special lady and even though Curtis will likely not remember her, she loves him so very much and he brings the biggest smile to her face every time she sees him. With that being said, our trip may have been hard, but it was wonderful. Mom throws Grandma a special lunch every year with her sisters, some of her nieces and grandchildren/great grandchildren. We got to eat good food, laugh, talk, take sweet pictures, enjoy all the kids in the family and celebrate 89 wonderful years of my Grandma's life. What a blessed day it was!

Other big highlights of our trip to NC:

Curtis and Prudence finally got to meet! Let me tell you alittle about these 2's special relationship. About a month after I told one of my very best friend's, Brenna, that I was pregnant, she texted me to tell me she was pregnant too. There is nothing better than going through pregnancy with one of your best friends. Pregnancy is not for the faint of heart, so if you can have a best friend to help you through it, it goes much more smoothly. When we found out we were having a boy and then the Perez's found out they were having a girl, we were even more excited. Brenna and I have joked all along that they were going to grow up friends and eventually marry. We know this may not happen, but I kind of hope it does, cause I know Prudence will be raised similarly to Curtis and they will be friends anyway, so why not? Well, Prudence ended up coming early, almost 4 months early, which was a shock, but she's a fighter so it's turned out ok so far. So, the day Curtis was born, Pru had been hooked to some form of O2, I can't remember if it was CPAP or the vent, but anyway, she pulled herself off of it and started breathing on her own. We like to think that all she needed was her love to come in to this world :) Anyway, it was wonderful for them to finally meet. When we brought them close to each other, Curtis reached for Pru, and they both smiled and laughed. It was wonderful to see!

Highlight number 2, I got to get coffee with my friend Courtney from back home. It was a wonderful time to hang out, get to know her better and have my heart encouraged by someone who's "been there" with this whole stay at home mom thing.

And highlight number 3, Taylor's t-ball game. It was fun to have our whole family (minus my love) there to watch Taylor win. I think she is really enjoying the game, and with some practice and age, I really think she'll make a good softball player.

The whole time was wonderful and I loved getting to spend time with my family. I love that they live close enough to go see and I love that they can be apart of Curtis' life. But, I am glad to be home with my husband, currently sitting on the couch with me, playing with our sweet baby :)

I love these 2 sweet girls!!

Grandma and Curtis, she was so happy to get to see him and hold him

My mom knows how to throw and tea party :)

Reegan playing peek-a-boo

Taylor giving Grandma her card

He did not want to be put down

Taylor hitting the ball