Trip to Tennessee

I am so behind on blogging. Remember how I said Reece isn't sleeping well...try waking up every two hours at night. So needless to say, when naptime finally comes, I don't really feel like blogging. I try to rest too!

Anyways, we got back from our trip to Tennessee almost two weeks ago. The kids, me and my mom went out there for a few days because our family hadn't gotten to meet Reece yet. We had a blast seeing grandparents, cousins, aunts and uncles. It was fun to see Hailey really interact and play with my cousins' kids (I don't know what that makes them in relation to her)

First the kids and I drove from Raleigh to Charlotte and spent a day or so. We had a super fun playdate with Mrs. Jackie and Charley

and then some fun with Tucker and Mack

The next morning we headed out. My mom drove and I sat squished in the back between the two carseats because Reece HATES the car. We made a few stops on the way but finally made it to Banner Springs. While we were there we had to feed the fish with Cailin

And then Hailey went for a ride on Granny's scooter. Ha!

The next morning we got up and traveled another few hours to visit family in Nashville. Gigi was in love with Reece's rolls. :)

We got to see Mitsey, Jacob and David too. David impressed us with his knowledge of Hailey's new favorite show "Paw Patrol"

I hate that I didn't get any pictures of Mitsey or Jacob with the kids :(

We spent one night there and then traveled back to Banner the next afternoon. Then Hailey got to feed the fish some more. Even Reece got to go this time! Someone kept eating our fish food ;)

Hailey also got to go to Bobby Gene's and feed the goats (she had been asking for months to feed the goats), and ride a horse.

(Don't worry they only rode in the back because it was at the end of the driveway)

I thought Hailey would be more excited about the horse. Don't get me wrong, she was excited, but I guess I expected more giddiness from her. Of course, she did wake up at 4:30 or 5 every morning we were there. So that may have affected her...

After another day or so there, we headed back to Charlotte. It was a looong drive back in the pouring rain and Reece looked like this most of the time, but we made it.

We all slept well at Grams' that night! Then before we headed back to Raleigh Hailey got to spend the night with Mimi. She was SO excited! They had a blast and I'm pretty sure Hailey didn't miss me at all. They went to the mall, the aquarium, the pool and of course played with Beau (the dog). The next morning, Reece and I went to hang out for a few hours before making the trip back to Raleigh to see Daddy. We discovered Reece thinks that the dog is hilarious (you should see the video of him laughing at him. Precious!). Here is the only picture I took that day.

Poppi, Reece and Bobo

Doesn't Reece look like he's up to something?! I think I'm going to have my hands full with that one.

We had a GREAT trip but it was so wonderful to come home to Daddy! Reece was so excited to be out of the car...and he got to try out his new big boy bath seat!

We loved our time in Charlotte and Tennessee! Looking forward to next time!

Reece is 5 months old!

I really can't believe it. Reece is 5 months old (yesterday). I feel like I just wrote his 4 month post and yet he has changed so much in just a month.

We didn't go to the doctor this month but I'm thinking Reece weighs around 15 1/2 pounds. He's definitely gained weight since last month. He is still wearing 6 month clothes and size 2 diapers. Reece still gets a bottle in the morning and at bedtime and nurses during the day. We had to increase his reflux meds this month as well. He now eats dinner every night. We started with just rice cereal to get him used to swallowing something and have now added in a little bit of baby food. So far he has tried bananas, sweet potatoes and apples. He wasn't too fond of the apples the first night we tried them but warmed up to them after that.

Reece got his first two teeth this month! He got the bottom two teeth. I really didn't think he was teething yet aside from extra drool but one night he was chewing on my finger and I felt them! Sure enough, two little teeth were trying to pop through.

 

Sleep has been rough this month, I'm not going to lie. We had a great sleeper just a few weeks ago and then something changed. If I knew what it was I would change it back in a heartbeat. Reece went from waking once a night to now waking every 2 hours or less again. It is rough! He's not really waking up because he's hungry though. Sometimes it's as easy as putting in a paci and he'll go back to sleep. But most times I have to rock him to get him back to sleep and then just an hour or so later he's up again. I love my little boy and I'm really trying to cherish these nighttime rocks but I need sleep too!

Reece has also really become a Mommy's boy this month. He really prefers Mommy to Daddy right now, so much so that if he's crying and Ryan is holding him I can just take him and he stops. It's kind of funny but can be frustrating at times if I need to get something done.

He is working on sitting up but still falls forward a lot if he's sitting in between our legs. He tries to flip himself out of the bumbo and bouncy seat if we put him in it though. He tries to roll to the side to get something or look at something. He is scooting across the floor like a champ! It's crazy! Occasionally he'll get up on all fours for a second but he can scoot with the best of them. He also loves to hold and chew on toys. He still loves his toes and when laying on his back with immediately grab them, if he doesn't roll over and start scooting. He is super curious about everything now. The other day I was taking Hailey's picture and Reece just scooted over to her and started playing with the jewels on her sandals. He loves our phones and tries to reach for them too!

Also changing this month is Reece's feelings about the car. He HATES it. Like screams the entire time we are in the car no matter what. He usually starts crying before we are out of the driveway and doesn't stop until I get him out when we get somewhere. It's not his car seat (we've tried a normal convertible one turned backwards) so we're guessing it has something to do with not being able to see me and being strapped in.

He has changed so much in just a month, who knows what next month's post will look like! (Here's to hoping his sleep changes ;) ) We love you Reece Anthony!

All American Cuties

this might be my new favorite picture

We had a great 4th of July! We started by celebrating with a fun family breakfast at a restaurant! That doesn't usually happen for us...especially since Reece was born. But we thought we'd give it a try and it went surprisingly well. Hailey had a chocolate chip pancake that was HUGE

 

 That and the small creamers for coffee may have kept her pretty well entertained :)
Then she and Daddy went on a date to Golfsmith. Ha! Ever since playing putt putt at the beach she's been obsessed with golf. Ryan played golf in the pouring down rain the other day and had to leave his clubs laying out in our foyer to dry out and Hailey played with them for a good hour. So he took her to Golfsmith to play with their clubs! She had a blast.

After naps we went to our neighbor's house for a cookout and pool party. Hailey swam for at least the first 2 hours. Then that poor girl ate for the next hour. She was starving after all that swimming. Her food of choice was carrots and dip (wouldn't ever eat them before) and BBQ chips.

 Reece did really well. He slept a little, just enjoyed being held and then dipped his toes in the freezing cold water. I thought he would cry but he didn't

On Sunday afternoon we met some friends for dinner (two restaurants in one weekend!). Let's be honest, Hailey did more walking around from table to table than she did eating but that's why we have the best friends. They love our kids! After dinner we went to a local neighborhood to support another friend who just started an ice cream food truck business. The ice cream was SO good! I had chocolate, Ryan got butterscotch haystack and Hailey had Lucky Charms. Yumm! I have no pictures of the actual ice cream because it was eaten too quickly! They even let Hailey come inside the truck and look around. I love our friends!

What a fun, relaxing weekend!