Wednesday, April 30, 2014

Spring Fun




March and April were fairly mellow for us, but of course was not without excitement.  After the winter months of cold and snow, we were excited for the Spring weather to arrive. Luckily, we started the season with a trip to beautiful San Diego! Everyone  thought I was a crazy person deciding to do a long road trip from Sacramento to San Diego with two kids by myself, but I of course thought nothing of it. I’ve done it a few times with Raegan and all has been well. I figured with a stop midway in Bakersfield and a “we’ll get there when we get there” attitude, we’d be fine. And we were…on the trip down! Everything went off without a hitch. We were able to reach Bakersfield in good time, spend time with the family there and have an uneventful trip overall. Once in Orange County, we met up with Hayden and visited some family there as well.

Overall, the visit with all of our family and friends couldn’t have been better. It was so fun to get to see everyone and introduce our little man. It’s just so hard and exhausting to see everyone that every time I go, I say we need to stay longer and not try to pack so much in. One day I’ll listen to myself! We enjoyed a nice family day at the beach, a family dinner at our favorite Mexican restaurant, a BBQ at our friend’s house (which as amazing because so many people came over to see us!!) and another beach visit to Ocean Beach. Our trip was packed full of fun!

Now as I said above, the road trip was smooth on the way down, but boy oh boy was it a different story on the way back home. Unfortunately, I did not time the travel time right and Greyson was not a happy camper. He didn’t sleep very much and did not appreciate being in the car as long as he was. It took us a good 6 or so hours to get to Bakersfield and he cried about 5 of those. It was tough to say the least and something I will think two or three times about before deciding to do again! Sadly, I believe this road trip has stuck in his mind and ever since he has disliked the car and screamed every time we have him in there. It’s very unfortunate.

After our trip to San Diego, my focus was on enjoying my last month of maternity leave and trying to relax and get little things done to prepare for my return to work. Luckily, this plan held true! We purchased a large trampoline for the kiddos from a friend of ours and Raegan absolutely loves it…as do we! It fits perfectly in the yard and has provided hours of fun for her so far. It has been fun watching her get more and more brave on it and actually starting to jump pretty high!

Easter was a lot of fun this year as well! Raegan was a bit more interested in the festivities of dyeing eggs, having Easter egg hunts, but most importantly getting a visit from the Easter bunny and receiving gifts. She was a bit confused and thought he was like Santa Claus and kept telling us she was going to ask for a Frozen castle when she saw him at the mall. I kept trying to inform her that he really only brings eggs and candy, but she still had to tell him. And we lucked out with a really get photo of the two kids without either freaking out or frowning! Very successful.

Greyson has wowed us with some big growth spurts and seems to be the size Raegan was when she was 6-7 months old! I’ve put him in some of her hand-me-down clothes that she wore way later in life and he is fitting in them…could be the amount this lil man eats!! He is a growing boy! He is also a little charmer, flashing his adorable smile at all times and working in a giggle here and there. We’re having lots of fun watching him grow and develop …and his big sister is enamored by him!  She is proving to be a very big help and enjoying making him play with her.

We wrapped up the month of April with swim lessons for Miss Raegan. Unfortunately, the weather didn’t cooperate too well the first week and it was a big struggle getting her to enjoy her lessons in the cold pool. She was not a happy camper. I had to really sit tight while watching her cry the entire lesson and then shiver endlessly after. I had to bribe with all things chocolate to make her keep going! Luckily, week two was much warmer and one of her little friends switched lesson times and went at the same time. This helped tremendously and she changed her tune about lessons instantly. She loved it and was getting more and more brave in the water every day. It was so fun to watch the progression! The only down side is she may be a bit too brave, but we’ll take it! Now she at least will put her head in the water and is not so afraid. It’s going to be a great summer watching her in the pool!

Unfortunately, the end of April brought the end of my maternity leave and I had to prep myself and the family for my return to work. And even worse, I had to move daycares. Raegan was super excited about her new “big girl” school, but once we went for the tour, she wasn’t too sure. She was super shy and not interacting at all. Hopefully she will be okay with the transition, but we’ll see! Greyson’s daycare tour went well and he seemed to take very well to the teachers there. Hopefully they both do great and it’s a seamless transition. We shall see. Stay tuned for updates next month!



Sunday, April 13, 2014

3 Months of Happy!

Well our lil man is now 3 months old and is just a happy little guy. He is all smiles all the time and is trying so very hard to give us that first giggle! He's pushing out squeals, but no official giggle just yet. This month he found his hands and chews away all day long and he is growing so fast! In comparison to Raegan this is quite a change for us...she took forever to go through clothes sizes, but Mr. Greyson is just about in 6 month size now! Crazy! I know he eats a heck of a lot more than she did, so it's no wonder he's a big boy. 

Not much else to report this month other than he's sleeping a bit better, averaging 8 hours which is great. He is following in his sisters footsteps in the nap department and takes a few 20-30 minute power naps a day. Not so much fun for mom, but hey he's sleeping good at night, so I can't complain. Plus, going through it with Raegan helps a bit. He is also still rolling over from his belly as he started at day 12 of his life! We're gearing up for his daycare experience and trying to wean him off breastfeeding during the day. So far he takes to the bottle and formula pretty well, so we don't imagine any problems next month when he goes to daycare.

Surely by next month's post we'll have a giggle video to share and news about his new experiences at daycare. Stay tuned!