wind, waves, and water

...she loves all these things :o)

Our first trip to the beach this summer was a little windy, but Taylor loved it just the same.

Looking forward to lots more moments with sand between our toes!!

Big Sister Little Sister

Trying to get an antsy toddler and a newborn to cooperate for a picture together (without mom or dad holding them) is quite a feat...and though none of them are perfect, these still make me smile just the same. :o)

Taylor - not so sure about this mom...

Goldfish crackers to keep big sister happy, but now Camryn is not so sure...

Checking each other out...

Taylor looks, but Camryn doesn't...

And now Camryn looks, and Taylor doesn't...

 Maybe better luck next time ;o)
It will be fun to see how these two develop a relationship together as they grow up - I am excited to see what the future holds for both of them!

7 1/2 weeks old

Update on the littlest one...

A week from today, Camryn will be 2 months old - I can't wait to see how much she weighs at her check-up! Her "little sister" shirt in this picture is a 6 month onesie...she is definitely growing!!

Our little one has changed quite a bit in the past two weeks or so.

She is smiling now. :o) It takes a lot of silly faces and sweet talking, but catching glimpses of those big grins is so worth it.

She is wearing size one diapers, but I think we are going to transition to size 2 this week (at least at night)!

(Sleepy face!) ---->

And...SLEEP! I have to comment on sleep, because this girl is showing signs of being a really good sleeper. If there aren't other errands or plans going on, this is typically what Camryn has been doing for the past week or so....

Up between 7:00-8:00am
Takes a 2-3 hour nap in the morning after being up for an hour or two
Up for about 2 hours (this seems to be about how long she likes to be awake before getting sleepy)
Then between 1pm-2pm she goes down and sleeps for another 2-3 hours
Takes a short nap in the later evening (usually in the Ergo during a walk)

And this has been the best part (the past five nights) - she goes down between 9-10pm and then sleeps until about 4:30am straight! It has been SO nice!!

For the past 2 weeks she has also been sleeping exclusively in the pack 'n' play - no more bouncer at night. The next transition will be going into her crib in Taylor's room - but that won't happen until she is consistently sleeping through the night. It could be a while. :)

Camryn is still so little that things change a lot - so it will be interesting to see how her schedule looks like at her two month post! 

Memorial Day weekend

It was our first trip to the lake - as a family of four!!

Was I a little nervous about making the drive up there with both girls? Yep. Did it go perfectly? Nope. But did we have a great time once we got there? YES! :o)

Car rides have never been our forte. Taylor wasn't a fan of the car when she was little, and now she gets carsick quite frequently. Camryn is like Taylor as a newborn because she doesn't fall asleep easily in the car, and when she gets mad about being in her car seat, it takes a lot to calm her down. So it took a few ziplock bags (3 to be exact - one on the way there, and 2 on the way back) during Taylor's car sick episodes, lots of attempts with the paci for Camryn to soothe her, and a few Dora episodes on the iphone to make it there and back. But we made it!

The weather was nice (with the exception of Sunday, which turned into a good day for shopping :)), and Taylor couldn't get enough of the beach, sand, seashells, and water. Between sunshine, being on the boat, eating good food, and just relaxing (as much as you can with 2 kids), it was a good trip. And I turned 31. Yikes. That seems old. :o)

Playing on the beach

Our little explorer - checking out the natural stream that runs through our yard

Taylor spent a lot of time in just her diaper - she was happiest running around this way for the most part :)

Taylor also decided she was going to be a big kid and no longer want to sit in her booster seat for meals, but preferred sitting up on a big stool instead - silly girl :)

Sharing popcorn for a snack - yum!

Little miss Camryn got her own special attention as well - next summer will be so fun when she is RUNNING around splashing with Taylor!

Camryn spent a lot of time sleeping - all that fantastic air off the lake and sound of the waves and water seem to create GREAT naps for both girls!

(Yes - she is sleeping on her tummy, which we allow during naps when we can keep an eye on her...she LOVES her tummy)

 We can't wait to go back - yay for summer!!

Breakfast, bottles, boo-boo's and more

A few moments captured recently that I want to remember :o)

** Breakfast
A typical early morning scene on days she goes to daycare - eating a bowl of cereal while watching Little Einsteins...

** Bottle
Camryn's first bottle! Taylor did NOT do well with bottles, and so far it is going a little better with little sister

** Boo-boo's
Taylor has fallen down many times (after all, she is a toddler), but after one tumble during a walk she scraped her knees and she got to have her first big girl bandaids (Dora ones, of course). It is amazing how they magically seemed to make her knees feel all better! :)

** Deanna's playhouse
One gray and cold morning, we decided to meet up with Ty and Addi for a playdate at Deanna's playhouse...they had a blast!

** Little sister is getting bigger!
We are still waiting for a full-on big social smile (only little smirks here and there for now), but here are a few pictures of Camryn we took recently to show how much she has grown! She turned 6 weeks on Friday, and already seems quite a bit different than when she was first born - although her hair continues to be just as dark and be growing even fluffier some days! :o)

(This pose reminds me of a super hero :))