Twenty Four Weeks Old

We started this week with a playdate! I'm not sure who is enjoying these more. :) We found two great moms with sweet little girls and it has been a great fit for both of us.

Aunt Tracy watched Hayden one night so Tyler and I could go out to dinner...what a treat! Then on Friday night we put him to bed in his Seminole pajamas to celebrate the night before the first game of the season. A true fan from the very beginning! :)

Tyler left for Atlanta on Saturday...and I worked on finishing the project in our foyer that I started 2 weeks ago. My goal was to have it finished by the end of Labor Day weekend. But mostly I had to at least cover the black wall! It took me a couple of days into the week, but finally it was back to being presentable!

It is a magnetic chalkboard wall. :) The magnetic paint is underneath chalkboard paint that is the color of all of our other walls. (Thank you Martha!) I am BEYOND pleased with how it turned out!! Now we can change out pictures as the little guy grows. The frames are nailed to the walls...but the pictures are just being held on by magnets. It's great for notes and quotes and I'm excited to keep adding to it!!

Aunt Sandra and cousin Haley came to visit over the weekend...it was a bonus getting to see Hayden AND Tracy! Then Tracy left and Tyler came home to spend Monday with us.

I snapped a couple shots of Hayden with the mirror from his nursery...that still needs to be hung!

Twenty Three Weeks Old

Tyler drove back and forth to Bristol for an event on Friday...then on Saturday morning we started our first weekend in 12 WEEKS that we were spending with just our sweet family of 4. It was WONDERFUL!

Hayden took a little cat nap while he was playing....

...and then we went to pick up lunch and spend the afternoon outside at the park. Little guy is really reaching for his bottle these days. And after he drinks some of the formula, he can just now hold it up by himself.

Gazing at his Daddy...this melts my heart. :)

We had a wonderful and relaxing weekend together...I loved every bit of it!

On Monday morning my sister came into town. She got lots of good loving from Hayden while she worked from our house for the week. She was there for Hayden's first roll from his back to his tummy! She couldn't believe it when she looked down at him and there he was....rolled over. :) She LOVES to make him laugh, and these days he is a very willing participant. I finally snagged a video of the thing that cracks him up most right now...being startled. I love how he jumps and then cracks up!!

We finished the week with a trip down into the city for the Charlotte Seminole Club's Season Kickoff Party. There was a great showing of Noles and Hayden proudly rocked his garnet polo onesie to show his spirt. :)

Twenty Two Weeks Old

Well, we have hit the 5 month mark and the sleep deprivation is really taking it's toll! Our little guy is SO incredible during the day...but he still can't figure out this sleeping business at night. Luckily, I have a very patient husband and a mom I can call 4 times a day if needed...because I am certain that I have been a very cranky and overly tired woman this past month!

We spent the week getting completely unpacked from the past two weeks! It was nice to have Tyler in town all week and weekend, so we met him out for lunch one day and enjoyed having him home for lunch during the rest of the week.

Tyler's parents came into town for a quick weekend visit! We did a little bit of shopping -- thanks KiKi for the CD player in Hayden's room!! He loves listening to the music. :) We had some yummy meals at the house and Tyler and I also enjoyed a wonderful date night. We had a cocktail before dinner, ate at one of our favorite restaurants, and even grabbed an after dinner glass of wine. It was a really nice treat!!

One Sunday I jumped into a huge project in our foyer...the weekend ended with me and the wall covered in BLACK magnetic paint. :) What on earth did I get myself into?!

Early the next week we jumped into the world of solid food....or at least we tried to jump in! Hayden was busy with other plans of being easily distracted by ANYTHING and clamping his lips together so we couldn't get the spoon in. But the spoon....he LOVED playing with the spoon!

(THANK YOU Aunt Sandra for the awesome bib!!)

SUCH a face!

We tried out a cool tummy time toy this week and H really responded well to it! It is supposed to help build his arm strength in addition to his neck...we are excited for him to use it. :)

And magically, I'm finally getting him to smile for the phone/camera!!

At the end of the week I grabbed a few pictures to celebrate his 5 month birthday. We took them in one of his superhero rompers (he has 3 now) because he has been LIVING in these for the past month!! They are light weight, stretchy and super comfy....PERFECT for being out and about during the summer!

Twenty One Weeks Old

After our long weekend at the beach, we had a quick turn around before Hayden and I were driving to Nashville with GiGi to visit my sister Tracy. We unpacked, did laundry and got everything repacked for our 5 day trip. We left on Thursday morning and arrived about 7 hours later. This was Hayden's longest car trip since we drove to Florida when he was 7 weeks old...and boy was it different! While he slept almost the entire way to Florida, now he is much more active which means he does NOT want to be in a car seat for 7 hours. But he was a trooper! We stopped twice on the way and actually made pretty great time.

Little guy with his traveling buddies...MOO and Mr. Giraffe. It cracked me up that he slept while holding the soft giraffe foot on his face. :)

And a picture to document his first hotel stay!

We stayed in that first night and looked forward to a fun weekend ahead! Aunt Tracy met us for lunch on Friday, but not before a hotel photo shoot on the great blue chair.

Hayden LOVED it when GiGi would kiss his feet!

He is still not quite hamming it up for the camera...but I love some of the moments we were able to capture. :) My fingers are crossed that one day this little guy will actually smile when he sees the camera!

We had a FABULOUS long weekend in Nashville...here are some of our favorite highlights:

FINALLY having breakfast at the Pfunky Griddle....pancake awesomeness!!

Roaming the streets of downtown Nashville...in search of the perfect little cowboy hat. :)

Time spent catching up in our suite, drinking wine and watching the baby for entertainment.

BATH TIME! Especially the towel snuggles with Aunt Tracy!

Twenty Weeks Old

On Thursday morning we packed up and loaded the car. Hayden, Tess and I drove all the way to Myrtle Beach without stopping...SUCCESS! Luckily my Grandpa and Corky met us when we arrived and helped me juggle the craziness that is getting a 70 pound dog and infant out of the car at the same time, in the heat, while the one who pulls like crazy on her leash is searching for a place to go to the bathroom! We made it upstairs and got everyone unloaded and set up. We brought in pizza for dinner and hung out until the Spicer Family arrived later that night. They had driven ALL THE WAY from Tallahassee just to spend the long weekend with us! We were so looking forward to Hayden meeting both of their little guys!!

On Friday morning we picked up Tyler from the airport and headed to the grocery store. Drew and Lindsey arrived later that afternoon to a rainy day. We stayed in for the most part and geared up for a weekend of fun in the sun. Brooke grabbed these pictures while we were hanging out. :)

On Saturday we spent some time on the beach! Unfortunately we got caught in a bit of a shower and ended up running up for lunch, IN THE RAIN, with 3 kids and almost all of our stuff....the beach with babies is a whole new ballgame. :) 

After all that excitement, it was time for a nap! GiGi has been helping us stock up on Favorite Blankets...she even found one in blue!

We headed out in the afternoon for some time at the pool. Then we had a yummy dinner at the condo and rested up for our pool day ahead. We were up early the next morning and excited to head down to the "water park" on the grounds. Brooke and Adam's oldest son is about 18 months old, and he loved EVERY BIT of playing at the park. When the little ones were ready for a nap, we made our way back to the pool by our building and enjoyed the wonderful and convenient cabana that Pop had reserved for us. It was a WONDERFUL home base for our 3 families and 3 kids. It was the perfect shady spot for us to park our things and relax.

We spent time in the pool...

...and relaxed in the shade!

We enjoyed SUCH a wonderful long weekend with some of our very favorite people. All the little guys were so well behaved and we could not have asked for a better family vacation. We sadly headed home on Monday missing the sand, the sea, and our fabulous Florida friends!