A day in the life of Carrie and Scott: August 2010

3 Month picture with her lovey. I had to wait until she was asleep because this happy girl wouldn't keep her feet down!

Their first bath together...probably first of many once she starts sitting up.

I can't believe how much she has grown in the last few months. She is one big breast milk fed baby! I think she has passed up Tyler's records...we will see at her 4 month check up.

Myla Quick Facts:

*She has been sleeping ~9 hours every night straight for the last 3 weeks or so!!! 9pm-6am. It has been amazing. I remember I used to say that it's impossible for a breastfed baby to sleep that long so early...I was wrong. Every baby is different and God blessed me with a sleeper this time! She is doing so great in her crib. I wished we moved Tyler in his crib as early as we did her. I guess you learn with your second!

*She is quite the flirt and smiles all the time. Last week in Key West people said that when she smiles, she smiles with her whole body...even her toes! She is really pretty too. At first I wasn't so sure about the strange pale gray baby that came out of me...but every day she gets more and more beautiful! She had a lot to live up to with Tyler though! I am so blessed to have gorgeous babies! I'm not biased or anything :).

* She is really easy to tell whats wrong. Her gas is starting to subside...maybe it's because I haven't been eating as much fiber as I needed to in the beginning! I can tell if it's been a few hours and she is fussy that she just wants to go to sleep. I put her in the Vulcan sleep hold (we learned with Tyler) and she falls asleep.

* She is wearing 6 month clothes and almost needs 9 month sleepers with footie's...because she is so long. I'm still squeezing her into a few though :).

* She is really making me eat a lot of sweets :). If I wasn't breast feeding her I think I'd be 50 pounds overweight by now!

*She still only poops once a day. (compared to Tyler who pooped every time I fed him!)

*NO giggles yet...but a happy baby!

*Tyler really loves her and talks to her and says the things he hears us say to her. Tonight he made me turn towards the TV so he could talk to her. He asked her if she was ready to go to the store. When she cries he comes and gets me and says she needs to burp.

She is such a wonderful blessing to our family. I love her so much I can't stand it!

Our first REAL vacation with two kids. And actually I would consider our first vacation as a family. Usually our trips consist of going to Iowa, which if fun to see everyone but it's not a true vacation. I was excited for Scott to get away and have a little bit of an excuse not to be working ALL the time. He did pretty good at relaxing but in a job of sales the phone always has to be close.

We drove down to Miami on Saturday Aug 7th after we attended Scott's parents 40th wedding anniversary party (and Scott's mom's birthday celebration) We left around 5pm drove home to get something we left, which was on the way...and by 5:45pm both kids were fast asleep. Myla woke once at 7:30 for a bottle and then back to sleep. Tyler woke a few times briefly just for some water and to complain of being uncomfortable. Poor baby, we all know that feeling of sleeping in a car. So one stop, slight detour and 8 hours later we get to Scott's cousins at 1:30am. We were exhausted...Tyler excited and WIDE awake! Finally he went to sleep 2 hours later. Sunday we hung out in Miami and had breakfast at IHOP with cousin Laurie and later that night dinner with the whole gang before we took off for the condo in Islamorada...both kids sleeping again :).

Monday: Tyler woke up to docks and boats galore and was so exciting to go fishing he couldn't stand it,,,the bad part it was raining! So we hit the grocery store for the 3 days we would be at the condo, had lunch, nap time, and the rain stopped so we thought the pool would be fun. While we were at the grocery store Scott took Myla out to the car to get her a blanket and when he came back in he spotted Tyler and texted me a note saying, Please pull Tyler's pants up!" Oops...Tyler had been counting the meats in the store as I gathered stuff for dinners...he was in my sight but I didn't notice his pants fell to his ankles. He just kept on counting shuffling his legs...people were pointing and laughing.

Tuesday: The weather was nicer on Tuesday than expected and so Scott and Tyler hit the docks early...and Tyler caught his FIRST fish! He just really loves fishing and spending time with his daddy. I hope this is something they will enjoy together for a lifetime.

Next we headed to The Theater of the Sea in Islamorada. I wanted to check out the cost of swimming with dolphins. It has been a dream of mine and we were supposed to do it for our honeymoon, but sea world was too expensive and too long of a wait. There was a whole 2.5 hour show of Sea Lion's, marine life of HUGE sea turtles that have been injured at sea, nurse sharks, a parrot show, and awesome dolphin show. We got a glass bottom boat tour...that ended up being a mini dolphin show in the middle of the boat...jumping out of the water and everything! Tyler was a little frightened...but got used to it.

BIG TURTLE!

And I got to swim with dolphins...finally. It was exhilarating! I swam 2 laps with a dolphin and dove down and he followed me while I watched him with goggles on. I got a dorsal fin ride, a kiss, a hug, and hold one like a baby! It was truly a dream come true. That night we headed over to some friends of ours that moved down there last summer. It was great seeing them and imagine life living in The Keys.

Wednesday: We just hung around the condo all day fishing and swimming...I got a lot of sun! We met some nice people staying at the condo so we had good conversation from some fellow mid-westeners. Wednesday night we went to check out Robbie's...where you feed these HUGE tarpon...and there are hundreds of them just waiting for you to throw in these bait fish. It was quite awesome to watch. And there was a web cam so I called Scott's parents to check us out and they saw us! After that we headed to mile marker 88 and ordered a pina colada and watched the sun go down while Tyler played in the water. That night we packed up the car so we could head to Key West early. I was excited to see my family...and have some reinforcements/help with the kids!

Family picture in front of the aquarium at the hotel!

Thursday: We arrived in Key West around 11am and headed straight to the pool. Tyler was jumping off the wall excited! Aunt Debbie took Tyler down and Myla and I soon joined her. We sat under these cool cabana's with ceiling fans and ordered lunch from a waitress that walked around. It was the best turkey club sandwich and sweet potato fries I've had in a long time. We put Tyler down for a nap and we connected with Jim and Ginny and Johne and Jenny. Scott went with JJ and Deb, Jim's grandma, the kids and I took the shuttle to eat at Two Friends...for some fish and chips...they weren't the same as I remembered them 5 years ago though :(. Then walked down to Mallory Square for sunset celebration.

We even saw Spiderman....the later years...Tyler didn't know what to think about him. Then it was off to get the shuttle and get the kids back in bed. Myla did great and went to bed easy...Tyler and Aunt Jenny and Aunt Debbie went down to the pool for a little while before bedtime.

Friday: We headed over to one of Jimmy's friends hotel where we played some 2 on 3 and 2 on 2 volleyball. Joe and I whooped up on them! We are the champions! It was so much fun and it was the most exercise that I have done in 12 months...I was a little sore the next day! It was a blast. Then we swam for a bit...Tyler loved playing with Aunt Jenny and Daddy in the pool. We tried to get Tyler to take an early nap...it didn't work...I can't remember if he napped at all. Anyways, we headed downtown for the rehearsal dinner. I was excited because my parents were in route from Miami. It was happy hour and the whole left side of the menu was 1/2 off! After we ate we headed to what was supposed to be a glass bottom boat tour, which turned out to be a booze cruise sunset sail...GREAT...nursing a baby and champagne...huh? I only had one glass... It was a gorgeous sunset and good time to be with family. We headed back and getting the 9:20 shuttle back was scary because it was packed full and I needed to get my kids in bed (it was a little different being in Key West, party town, with two small children) It was a good excuse to be good and go to bed! Anyways, we are on the shuttle and Scott is being obnoxious...looks down at Tyler who is sitting in between my mom and I peacefully with his eyes closed...and Scott yells, TYLER, ARE YOU SLEEPING? and with no hesitation Tyler responds, YES! It had the whole back of the shuttle laughing! Even Tyler was giggling..then fell fast asleep again. He did so good...especially for not having a nap that day!

Earlier pool fun!

Cool Dude with his sun glassed and McD's Cinnamon rolls!

Saturday..Wedding Day: My Aunt and I decided to go Para sailing. She had done it before and wanted to do it again...so I volunteered to do it with her. It was GREAT! The guy on the boat made it quite entertaining as well. We didn't see any sharks or anything, but the others said they saw a sea turtle. It was good memories to have with my Aunt Debbie!

Finally...the wedding...and 2 minutes later the ceremony is over! AWESOME...just like our wedding! It was really beautiful and I am so happy for my cousin Jimmy...he found a good girl and I can't wait to see their life together...we are hoping for a family trip in 5 years back to Key West for a reunion/anniversary! It will be our 10 year and their 5 year anniversary!

Here is Tyler with the newlyweds! Blowing the bubbles...he blew them throughout the ceremony...hey it kept him quiet! The reception was wonderful on the dock, we had piano music in the back ground, and 4-5 course meal with appetizer, salad, and I ordered the Filet Mignon. hmmmm. And then of course the Wedding Cake for desert. It was a great way to celebrate Jim and Ginny...until we waited for over an hour for the shuttle to get home, both kids had poopy diapers and were exhausted...oh wait...that's the story of my life these days with 2 small kids...and I LOVE it! Hopefully that's what Jim and Ginny get to look forward to in the next 5 years :).

Sunday: We went to a nice brunch to see Jim and Ginny and then headed out of town...in hopes of making it all the way to Savannah. Before we left we stopped by the Duval Beach Club (where we got married) and snapped a family shot looking back at our wedding spot on the beach. Such wonderful memories came back...and now look at my beautiful kids...5 years later!

We stopped in Miami for a few hours...got Tyler nice and wore out. We made it home about 12am! We survived our first road trip...I hope there will be many more to come!