Dear Cate...month 5

 

 Dear Cate,

TODAY you are FIVE Months old!  You are such a beautiful little soul, so full of life!  You continue to make us smile with your bubbles and laughter.  Just last night you "sang" along with a song.  Granted it was GLEE, and J-Z but hey, you were digging it!  

You now weigh OVER 16 pounds and last month you were almost 25 inches long already!

You've had quite the month.  Not only do you roll over now, but you now reach for things on a regular basis and actually "play" with your toys.  You even have inched yourself forward a few times laying on your play mat.  Getting that little bottom off the ground still seems like it's going to take a while, but I'm sure you'll be up and crawling before we know it.  

You've changed so much just in the last month that I can hardly believe it.  You somehow skipped over most of your 0-3 months clothes and are making your way QUICKLY through your 3-6 months.  

At your last check up last month, doc thought that it was time to start you on food.  SO we started oatmeal a couple times just to try it out, and now just this week you ate baby food for the first time.  You weren't sure at first, but now really like meal time!

 You are so adorable, the way you go from serious to absolute excitement in a blink of an eye.  You also now do the "swim" ALL the time when you are excited.  You have to move both of your arms and legs at the same time in almost a doggy paddle.  It's how we know you're REALLY excited.  You do it when we lay you down for tummy time, and you crack yourself up when doing it!

 We originally thought you would be a thumb sucker, just like your big brother, but in the last month (since you started teething) you have really come to want your pacifier when you're really tired. 

 You still adore your daddy, and you and your brother still fight for his attention and time daily.  I'm happy to report that MY arms is still your favorite place to be and I'm happy to have you there.  

  

It's been a beautiful, blessed five months with you darling! 

Love, MOM

Comparison

 

Today our little princess turns FIVE months, and before I show you all her beautiful new photos, I thought I would show you just how much she does look like her big sister!!

 

This is Mag at 5 1/2 months, and yes this hat WILL be making an appearance soon!  I thought it would be cruel to pull it out when it's almost 90 degrees outside!

Wordless Wednesday

Clearwater, FL

Clearwater, FL

our Gulf Coast stop

On Saturday morning we got up early, it was going to be a BIG morning.  Our annual family portrait was on schedule!  We had already scouted a great spot over in Celebration (right next to Orlando) and had it all planned out.  It was sunny, but there were clouds moving in fast.  Fionn saw them and said "oh no, RAIN".  I ignored him, it was only a five minute drive after all to our spot. As you can see, we were both pretty upset about what happened to our plans.  It rained, and rained, and kept raining!  UGH.  ALWAYS when I make plans!!

 

So off to plan B (aka scrambling around w/no plan)  Remember that, we'll come back to that later...

After we finished up with the rest of the family, we decided to head off to the coast. 

 

As we drove it rained a little more, and we knew that there was still another storm brewing in from the Gulf, but we decided to chance it.  We were rewarded for our bravery very handsomely!  The waves were turned up just a bit, so the kids loved it, and the clouds were just BEAUTIFUL as they rolled in from the Gulf!  The Gulf sand is pristine and white, which shocked me.  I've only ever been to the Atlantic side of FL, so was not prepared for the beauty that met us at Clearwater!  

This is one of my FAVORITES of Cate with her daddy!  We opted out of the whole suit with rash guard for this trip and just went with swim diaper.  I LOVE it!!

Of course it's all about perspective.  Look how tiny my peanut is in this shot compared to the one above.  But LOOK at that sky, it was marvelous!

There's not a lot of Mag from the beach because she made a friend and spent most of the time playing with her.  I did get plenty of those shots, but wouldn't feel right putting other people's children up on our blog without their mommies knowing!

This sequence just cracks me up!!  When a wave would knock Fionn over he would get up and punch the next one that came to shore, so it became a running joke to "fight the ocean"  This is the Gulf getting a hit in.  Poor Fionn, lol.  He was such a trooper though!!  If you look closely in the next to the last one you see his little hands coming up out of the water, but that's it!! 

The sunset continued to dazzle us as we enjoyed our small amount of time that we had left of daylight.

 

Sadly though it was time to call it a day and head to the truck as the daylight faded over the Gulf!  

Thanks Clearwater, you were an amazing end to our trip!!

Cocoa Beach, FL

Cocoa Beach, FL.

(our first trip to the beach during vacation)

Since we were staying in Orlando, and you know didn't REALLY you know, want to do something as silly as read a book (or relax for that matter on vacation this year) we decided that it would be ambitious to try to take our kids to BOTH the Atlantic and the Gulf Shore since we were directly in the middle of the state.  Yes, AND go to Disney.  It was a BIG week.  I mean HUGE! 

 I mean really, who goes to Disney and BOTH shores in one week.  

We are THAT family it seems.

It was a nice hour(ish) drive over to the Atlantic and honestly we saw a billboard for Cocoa Beach on the way over, so headed there.  We found a spot just south of Cape Canaveral and just north of the pier.  It was a great spot.  We got there a little after 5pm and missed the craziness of the beach crowd.  It was lovely.  Just a few other families around us, but we had plenty of beach space.  Fionn belongs on the shore, and we know it's just a matter of time until we lose him to the call of the ocean.  We just pray he stays East Coast.  Last year the boy cried when we left the ocean for the last time, and he was soooo excited on the way there this year when we told him where we were going.  

As you can see, big sister loves the shore as well.

and the baby girl.  She is seriously the calmest baby I've ever met.  She just chills and rolls with life.  We can take her anywhere, and she is cool with whatever we're doing.  The ocean, no big deal.  We sat there with her for a long time and she just sat and watched the waves come in and hit her feet.

Toes in the Atlantic for the first time.  Less than 4 months old.

The rest of the family drove out to meet us after a little while and the boys had a BLAST digging on the beach together.

Pop-pop with his girls!

oh did we enjoy our evening in Cocoa Beach!  It was a perfect way to split up the crazy of Disney!

Friday Funny - Vacation Style

So many of you know that we just got back from this HUGE trip.  I've been a slacker and have not posted a darn thing about it.  It was Wonderful, Fabulous, Exciting and EXHAUSTING!  We have just been SO tired since we got back.  I'm sure we walked MILES in the nasty, humid-late August heat in one of the most crowded places we've ever been, but still.  

E-X-H-A-U-S-T-E-D.

So until I can get my wits about me, and get this new routine of the school year on track, you only get snippits. Your first snippit is a video.  If you get motion sick, you may not want to watch.  If you DO watch, don't say I didn't warn you!

ps.  Sorry for the crazy laugh.  It's what I do on rides.  And of course when I hear myself doing it, it only makes me laugh harder.  You should have heard me on Space Mountain or the Rockin' Rollercoaster, I was laughing so hard I had tears streaming down my face, this is mild!
What can I say, Disney was FUN!