Fifteen Weeks Old

This is all happening way too fast! I'm barely keeping up with blogging and all of a sudden our sweet baby boy is almost 4 months old! Week 15 finished out our long trip to the beach. Tyler and my dad arrived on Thursday and Tyler's parents came in very late on Saturday night.

We spent great time playing and napping at the pool...

...and playing in the waves of the ocean!

On Sunday night we got all dressed up for pictures and a night out.

Hayden with GiGi and Pop...

...and KiKi and Poppy. :)

 

By the time we got to our little family, H was FINISHED with the black box!! (We're going to have to work on this!)

I'm already looking forward to being all together again when we celebrate Hayden's first Thanksgiving!

Fourteen Weeks Old

Before getting packed up for the beach, I tried to grab a couple quick 3 month pictures of H. He wasn't giving me any smiles with that big black box in front of my face! I only got a couple...but this one made me smile. This is his full tummy/milk coma face. :)

Tess was hanging out on the bed while I was taking these so I figured, why not give a picture of my two kids a shot. Then this magic happened....I'm in love! Next goal is one with a smile on the little guy.

Tess was out of focus and moving in this next one but I just love Hayden's pensive look. :)

Tyler discovered a new favorite place for Hayden to hang out this week...he seems to like it up there but he keeps a death grip on Tyler's hair just in case.

We stayed in town on Friday to visit with Mike and Lindsay who were in town from Tallahassee! They had lots of places to go and people to see while they were in NC, so we were thrilled for them to get to see where Tyler works, spend the afternoon with Hayden and then meet them for dinner down in Charlotte.

Then on Saturday morning we were up bright and early to drive to the beach. Tyler and my mom were kind enough to make it possible for Hayden, Tess and I to spend a full 10 days at the beach AND be able to ride home in one car as a family at the end of it. We packed up my car and started driving towards the  beach...and my mom started driving FROM the beach towards us. We met in the middle and my mom hopped into our car to go back to the beach and Tyler drove her car back to our house.

We spent the first weekend with GiGi and Pop and the first half of the week just with GiGi. It was a wonderful start to a nice long vacation!

The refrigerator looked like this all week...baby bottles and beer bottles...

And the little guy looked like this:

Beach bummin'

Swimming with Pop

Napping after a day in the sun and sand. :)

Hayden is Loving...

At the 3 month mark...here is what Hayden is loving:

He is STILL loving his Hammock! He hangs out in it when he's awake and takes great naps in it as well. He even has one at the beach where he enjoys lounging under the umbrella and listening to the waves. This has proven to be far and away the greatest thing we registered for!

He is loving short-sleeved onesies this summer. (I'm pretty sure we own half of Carter's.) I think my urge to shop for baby clothes has been hugely squelched by our having a little boy first. While this guy has a nice little closet, I can only imagine how easily we would have FILLED one had he turned out to be a pink baby. Now I realize that BABIES LIVE IN ONESIES...or at least ours does! They are light and comfy and perfect for hanging around the house or going for a walk in this summertime heat. Maybe I will change my tune if and when a little sister comes along....but for now, we are all enjoying this easy breezy default.

He is loving the water! He enjoys bath time...all the time. And after our trip to the beach, we found that he likes the ocean and doesn't mind if a wave gets him in the face. He also likes sitting in a shallow pool with us. But he really loves floating around in the main pool like a big kid! Now that he is really holding his head up, we will have to get him a float for our next trip.

He is really starting to love Tess kisses. But I don't think Tess has given him much of a choice. She likes to get her morning kisses in while he is having his breakfast bottle. And if he's playing on his mat...well she just might kiss him every time she walks by. He is really starting to notice and follow her and I think she likes the extra attention. :)

He is LOVING the ceiling fans. He notices the fan in every room and looks very puzzled when we are in the guest room, where there is no fan. He was beyond thrilled to come back from the beach (no fans there) and see all his buddies. He gets distracted by the fan while he eats, but he can also lay on his back and have a full conversation with one.

He is loving The Very Hungry Caterpillar. His face lights up when you read it to him and naturally my wheels are already turning with thoughts for his first birthday. Just think of all the wonderful food we will be able to serve!

And finally, above all else...

He is loving his FAVORITE BLANKET! At my baby shower, there was a soft white blanket under my cake. It came home with us and got put in the closet with the TONS of other blankets. When it was cooler outside, we used a great fleece blanket to almost always wrap him up in. We loved it....it was the perfect size and the perfect weight! (THANK YOU Matt and Sarah!) Then as the summer came, that blanket became a little too heavy to use every day so we were trying out some other options. One night when my mom was here, Hayden spit up a little and she just grabbed a new blanket from the closet. Well, it has been LOVE since the first snuggle! His face literally lights up when you cover him with it and he grabs it in his hands and wraps himself up. I'm guilty of having probably close to 25 pictures on my phone with him and this blanket. And of course we did a favorite blanket photo shoot as well. :) I'm not sure if it will end up being something he carries around with him forever but, in the event that it is, this mama was THRILLED to find that it is sold at Target. Thank you very much...I'll take 12!

Sweet smiling eyes :)

Taking this modeling job VERY seriously!

AND....fun from the phone!

Thirteen Weeks Old

In preparation for Father's Day weekend, I decided to give a little photo session a try on my own with the little guy. He is getting to be quite squirmy, so I wasn't sure that anything would turn out....but wouldn't you know it produced my favorite Hayden photo to date. :) 

This handsome guy can now be found on all the dad's desks in our family.

GiGi came in town on Friday to hang out with me and Hayden while Tyler took Ethan to see Shrek the Musical down in Charlotte. The show was a great one!! Then Pop and Sophie came into town on Saturday to celebrate Father's Day weekend with dinner and Sunday brunch.

Here are my favorite guys on Father's Day in their matching grey and white polos. :)

And here are some fun iPhone pictures captured this week...

My babies napping together. :)

EVERYONE wants to meet Sophie the Giraffe!

Tess and Sophie were very bummed to realize this squeaky toy is for Hayden.

Hayden's ABCs

I jumped onto the Pinterest bandwagon several months ago and saw this custom print that I was dying to have for Hayden's nursery. I checked out the website and had been lusting after it ever since. Then on Mother's Day I was gifted a fully customizable ABC print with a custom color palette...SO EXCITING! It took me a couple of weeks to put together a fully relevant alphabet and I have just approved the final proof. Now I am anxiously waiting by the door for the finished print to arrive!!

THANK YOU Kristen at Hoot Design Co for being SO easy and fabulous to work with. I am in LOVE with the print and can't wait to see it in Hayden's room SO soon!!

Looking Like Daddy

When you look at my two favorite boys from this angled profile...it's pretty tough to tell who is who!

Stay tuned for a Looking Like Mommy post because now that he is starting to fill out in the cheeks and legs...it's becoming a little more evident that he's my kid too! :)

Twelve Weeks Old

Week 12 was a FUN one! It started off perfectly with Kristin coming into town to spend a long weekend and meet Hayden for the first time. She pretty much took over all Hayden duties as soon as she walked in the door AND took me out for a Melting Pot dinner to celebrate my birthday. How lucky can one girl be?! She helped me survive Hayden's first public diaper explosion...queue the transition to size 1 diapers!...and snuggled the little guy like a total natural. She even made him laugh out loud for the first and only time because, despite all of our efforts, we haven't been able to make him do again!

On Friday Lauren came into town and it was SO nice to catch up after 6 years! Then Tracey arrived on Saturday morning and Hayden was in heaven. He had 3 beautiful ladies swooning over his every move! He loved spending time with them ALMOST as much as I did and if I were Luke, I'd keep an eye on his wife because my little flirt definitely has eyes for Lauren. :)

KiKi and Poppy also arrived on Saturday and were more than thrilled to babysit Hayden while we all went down to celebrate at Christy's wedding!

We all spent Sunday back at the house and then said goodbye to the Florida girls. It was such a great visit and made me wish even more that they lived closer. T and Kris....I love you both so much and am so grateful to have such incredible girlfriends in my life. Tyler, Hayden and I loved every bit of the weekend we got to spend together! Xxo

KiKi and Poppy stayed for most of the rest of the week. It was incredible having extra hands around the house and they even cleaned and cooked for us as well. We got a second date night during the week and were left with a squeaky clean home from the inside out. A MILLION thank you's are not enough...we loved having you here to visit!

Hayden and I also survived his 2 month appointment. It landed closer to 2 1/2 months due to Tyler's new job/insurance. Now that the little guy is eating what he should, he is up to 11 pounds 6 ounces and in the 50th percentile for weight and length...YAY! He got stellar marks for his checkup and fell asleep while we waited for his shots. He took the oral vaccine first, to help wake him up, and then three shots on his legs. He SCREAMED and his face turned the color of the fire engine outside the window...but as soon as we were finished and the nurse said I could pick him up, he immediately stopped crying and fell right back to sleep...WE WILL TAKE IT!

All in all it was a fabulous week! 

Here are some cute iPhone pictures from this week worth sharing...

Smiling baby!

Hanging in his Mamaroo :)

3 generations of Key men!