Father's Day 2013

I know I may be biased, but I think I have the best Dad that ever lived!  He is the greatest Poppy that ever lived too!  He taught me the rules of every sport, he disciplined me when I needed it and usually that would suffice with the "look" of a mad dad, he tickled us til we couldn't breathe, and as far as I can remember he was at every one of my ballet recitals or school programs that were important.  He moved me from dorm to dorm to apartment to house to house --- and still helps me move stuff when I need him too!  He has always been there for me.  And he gives the best bear hugs.   I love you, Dad!

Happy Father's Day to Matt!  He works so hard to provide for us (and lets me stay home).  He makes us all laugh when we've all had a bad day and tired.  I asked the kids why they love their Daddy, and here are their responses:

Mattox:  "because he give me chechup (ketchup)... and chicken nuggets... and fries"
Mati Claire: "because he's silly and he tickles me!"
Merritt: "da da dad da da da da"

11 months

Mitt is 11 months old!

• She weighs 14 lbs. 11 oz officially a few days ago; but tonight after eating a huge dinner she weighed 15 pounds! whohoo!  
• She wears size 2 diaper, size 1 shoe, size 9-12 month clothes (except in the waist)
• Still wakes up every 4 hours at night (except on our recent beach trip -- see previous post)
• Finally started eating Cheerios; but is a very picky eater when it comes to baby food: only likes peas, yogurt, chicken noodle dinner, turkey and rice dinner, garden vegetables by gerber, and a few others.  Yogurt is by far her favorite.  And I don't feel guilty about it because she needs the calories!  
• I am still breastfeeding.  I introduced the bottle (attempting 1 bottle of breastmilk per day) and she detests the bottle!  We are struggling to get 2 oz down her using a bottle, when I know she can drink up to 4 oz or more at one feeding.  I was hoping to start weaning her this month, but she put the brakes on that.  So I will give her the summer and attempt weaning when school starts again.  I'm not one of those moms who breastfeeds til they start kindergarten.  ugh.  I give all my kids up to 1 year and then I take the boobs back!  
• She has a severe attachment issue.  She will start fussing or screaming if I am not in her sights at all times.  I'm getting better at ignoring this because I would never get anything done, but wondering when she is going to relax some.  My other 2 were definitely more calm and content.  And then there are times that I love how attached she is...and I wonder if we'll still be like that when she's older.  She also seems to be more of a Daddy's girl....ok ok...i'll give him one!  ;)  

She is NOT crawling, walking, pulling-up, or standing.  Or attempting any of those.  She can sit very well but is not content with just sitting in the floor (starts fussing).  She likes to sit in the high chair where she can everything!  #busybody

She loved the beach, she loves baths, she loves dancing and music, and she loves to play Pat-a-cake!  She can wave "bye-bye" and clap!

I am very anxious to go to her next cardiology appointment in July to see how her heart is doing and see if the VSD has closed.  *fingers crossed*  :)

Happiness

I feel like we've been gone a month - and its only been a week!  We have had a full week of quality family time starting with my sister-in-law Rachel's wedding!  Beautiful ceremony overlooking a lake.  We have enjoyed getting to know, "Mr. A-Ron"  (now Uncle Aaron) and he seems to be quite a funny character that keeps us all laughing!  Welcome to the family, Aaron.  We gained a new brother-in-law/uncle this weekend!  We wish them all the happiness in the world that they both deserve!  

"I feel pretty!  Oh so pretty!  I feel pretty and witty and bright!  And I pity any girl who isn't me tonight!"

Mr. and Mrs. Findley with the Miley's!  (mattox was just a little mad, can you tell?)

stud muffin

thing 1, thing 2 and thing 3

Party of 5!

Sweet cousins!

stretching his jaw and getting frustrated at all the cameras

"but his tie is so much fun to play with!"

me and my man

Daddy and his Golden Girls!  

Matt must have been still in his "night" phase of working...because he felt the urge to leave for our beach vacation IMMEDIATELY after the wedding = 11:00 pm.  As much as I hated the drive in the car and not being able to sleep, it was worth not stopping for gas, bathrooms, or food.  Kids slept for the most part and we made it to Rosemary Beach, FL in exactly 6 hours at 5:00 am!!! 

Merritt did WONDERFUL at the beach, which was unexpected.  She slept 10 hours straight the first night, followed by 2 more nights of at least 8 hours straight!  I'm not sure what the beach has over her, but I am seriously considering moving to the beach if it can induce a sleep coma for her!  I couldn't tell you how happy I was!  Of course the first night back home...and she was awake every 4 hours again as usual.  What is up with that?  What did the beach do that I'm not doing here at home?   Will post her 11 month update later (11 months old today).

We met up with our friends from St. Louis, the Hennon's, who have twins the same age as MC.  It was nice to catch up and the kids had a blast!  Mattox never got in the water so there aren't many pics of him.  He pretty much stayed terrified the entire time and was not in a good mood (because he was constantly looking over his shoulder afraid someone might try to throw him in).   We couldn't get MC out of the water!  

Matt and I celebrated our 9 year wedding anniversary while we were there!  We've been together for 11 years.   Time flies! Nana let us go out to dinner after we got back last night so we managed to squeeze in our favorite restaurant without kids!  Thank you, Nana!    

I LOVED Rosemary Beach and would highly recommend!  Can't wait to go back!  The beach makes everyone happy!

Our beach house rental!  Andalusia.  love.love.love!

First day on the beach! She loved the sand.

But we kept her in the shade for most of it.  

little diva.  about to be 6 going on 16.

her chocolate cake that was almost bigger than she was.

Thanks to Kim Stone for snapping family pics again!  Can't wait to see the rest!

one of my favorite pics of the entire week.  I took this one on our last night.  

super happy baby.  #beachbabe

.....AND now back to reality at home!  Back to not sleeping or eating as well for Mitt.  Back to a house FULL of dirty laundry - which will take me all week to get done I think.  Back to VBS at church and swim lessons for the rest of the summer.  I'm happy to be home and sleeping in my own bed again.