Family Beach Trip 2012

The week of Labor Day my parents rented us a house in Watercolor! This was our first time staying in Watercolor, and I will have to say it tops my list of my all time most favorite places to stay at the beach. We had a phenomenal trip despite a few rainy days, and there were an endless amount of things for the kids to do! I simply cannot believe I did not get a group shot of us all. The night we all went out for dinner I was planning to take it, but that turned into a fiasco because our sitter did not show up! Mom, Dad, Thomas, Josh, Shelby, and our crew were all there. We have one more year to enjoy a September beach trip before our big girl starts real school!

Ah, yeah, have you ever seen the beaches of 30A look like this? Remnants of Irene, but we still had fun!

Resemblance maybe? Poppy says he looks just like his grandfather!

We had our choice between 6 pools!

They rode in this the entire week, everywhere we went!

Playing chase...

Now to the park...

Which lead to the splashpad...did I mention this place was amazing?

That big sissy loves her baby brothers...

Our three angels!

Now this is funny...the actual homeowners of Watercolor get their own chairs and spots on the beach, separate from the "renters." The day we walked out to the beach to rent our chairs the guy told us we could not sit in this particular area since we weren't homeowners. Lollie proceeded to tell him then we weren't renting chairs which turned into him letting us sit with the "homeowners!" So, for a day, we had to act legit out on the beach!

Another pool...

We tried to cheer our Auburn Tigers on against Mississippi State to no avail, but this little guy still looked cute!

These three had a wonderful week...

Ellie and Greer's favorite...the lily pads!

How beautiful is this place? We rode our bikes through all sorts of fun trails along the lake!

Precious!

Clearly pictures were over by this point!

I hope we make it back next year. Same time, same house, same people!!

Back to School

On August 27, 2012, Greer headed back to school! He is in the 2 year old class this year, and his teachers are Mrs. Debbie and Mrs. Lisa. He is going 3 days a week and absolutely loving it!

He loves wearing his backpack!

He would only allow me to get action shots!

Then, after a week at the beach, on September 11, 2012, big sissy headed back to school! She is in 4k this year and going 5 days per week...sniff sniff. After I realized that she will forever be in school for the rest of her school life for all 5 days, I got a little sad. I will say if anybody can handle it, it would be Ellie. I also must admit she needs it. She just gets bored at home so it has been great for her so far!

Her teachers are Mrs. Beddingfield and Mrs. Snyder. You know you're getting big when you call your teachers by their LAST names! I had to explain this to her the day before school started.

And, in the midst of all of this back to school stuff, we had to say goodbye to our sweet, awesome, fantastic, fabulous...need I say more...nanny, Ashton. The kids loved her, I loved her, Rusty loved her, we all adored our Ashton, but she has already been back once to babysit so we hope to continue seeing her a lot! We love you so much Ashton and miss you like crazy!

Sims 7 Months

Here it is almost September, and he is about to be 8 months, but this post is better late than never, right? On August 4th, Sims turned 7 months. 

 He continues to be a happy little guy and is definitely the most laid-back out of all 3 children. He will sit on the floor for literally an hour just playing with his toys. This may not seem like any big deal to anyone, but it is to me because Ellie and Greer were just not like that! He LOVES his big sister and brother and constantly wants to know where they are and what they are doing. He brings so much joy to this house, and we cannot imagine our lives without him! He had his first real sickness a few weeks ago. Greer got Hand, Foot, and Mouth Disease first, and after a few days Sims started running a fever too. We had a rough few days, but we are all healthy now thank goodness!

We love you Simmy!

July Recap

We had our annual "Lollie Beach Trip" in mid-July this year and had a great time. Lollie and I got smart this year and found a babysitter to come a couple of nights so we could get a break, and it was just what we needed since it was just Lollie, me, and the 3 kiddos. I really did not get the camera out very much, but here is a quick look at our trip...

 Dinner out one night and putt putt after...

 When we were pulling in to putt putt, Ellie looked across the street and saw LOTS of fun stuff that caught her eye. We couldn't resist and took them to Gulf Shores to the Track a few nights later! She and Greer absolutely loved it.

 We stayed at G.G. Mama's condo like we always do and had another great trip. G.G. Mama is threatening to sell her condo so this may have been our last trip. Mom and I are very sad about this, but we have vowed to continue the tradition even if it is in a different location! (Sims was there too, but I failed to get any pics of that sweet little thing).

Then, the last weekend of July we headed to Lake Martin for the annual Prewett lake trip. The house we stayed in was very kid-friendly. Greer enjoyed the cute little playhouse...

 The best we could do at a group shot...

 Maw Maw and Simmy. She was a big help with him!

 Sims was excited to meet his little cousin Olivia who is just 3 months younger than him.

 She is so precious!!

 G lovin some watermelon...

 The cousins (minus Olivia). These girls are so sweet and great with our children, and I am so very thankful for that. Ellie looks up to them so much!!

Rusty had some t'shirts made for his business so they are modeling the shirts! Cannot wait to do it again next year!

All.Day.Long.

This is all he does...

 He can entertain himself for hours...

 And you never know where you might find them around the house...

Our sweet Greer. I just had to capture this so we will always remember how obsessed he is with cars/trucks/tractors/trailers, etc etc etc!

Have I mentioned as we are driving around town he points out EVERY car on the road that looks like anybody's in our family? "Mama, there's She She's car," "Mama, there's Poppy's truck," you get the point. The amazing part about it is that the vehicle will look exactly like that person's! My little man is very observant (I was just like this about cars when I was younger so it's pretty funny...I have always been obsessed with cars).

6 Months

On July 4th, this little guy turned 6 months!

 6 months has been HUGE around here. He has 2 teeth coming in at the exact same time...

 He was very tolerant while I was trying to get a good picture of those teeth!

 And he is sitting up like a champ!

 I am one proud Mama!

 6 months has been another huge milestone for Sims with his sleeping. Not only is he sleeping through the night, but I am having to wake him up almost every morning at 8:00 to keep him on schedule! This is all very similar to his sister's sleeping habits at this age, and she has always been and remains a great sleeper! Fingers crossed that we are on that same track with him. Unlike his big brother who waltzed into our room at 5:40 a.m. this morning putting trucks and trailers on my pillow saying, "Mama, I got trailers." This happens all too frequently!

We love to call Sims "Simmy." In fact the little guy actually thinks that is his name. He also loves for me to sing "You are My Sunshine" to him. I honestly have never seen anything like it with the way he reacts to me singing that song. If we are in the car, and he is a little unhappy, the minute I start singing he is silent! He was a little wound up a few nights ago, and I went in his room and starting singing, and he passed out cold on my shoulder in 2 seconds flat. It is the sweetest thing!! That is definitely "our song." He is also a thumb sucker! I am very nervous about this because Ellie and Greer were/are both paci babies, and I am worried about giving up the thumb in the future. You can take pacis away but not thumbs! I have found that many times when he awakes, he will start sucking his thumb and drifts off back to sleep. And it is the cutest thing you will ever see when such a little baby is sucking their thumb!

6 Months Stats:

Weight - 20 lbs. 7 oz. (90th%)...surpassed brother and sister!

Length - 28.5" (98th%)

Greer has been really sweet to share his trucks with his baby brother. I will ask Greer to give something to Sims to play with, and he says, "ok, Mama," and walks over and hands him one of his favorite trucks! I know this won't last long so I am going to enjoy it while it does last!

 Could not believe Greer cooperated for this!

 My sweet babies are growing too fast. We are thoroughly enjoying our summer and will be sad to see it end. We are in a very good place at our house now. We are all getting along and sleeping well. Can't ask for much more with 3 kiddos under the age of 4!