Crew Benjamin: 6 Month Update:

Happy 1/2 Birthday to the sweetest little boy in the whole wide world!! 

Yes, big sister has already sang to him and there will be 1/2 of a birthday cake later today! 

How has it been half of a year though? 

Our sweet boy is growing up right before our eyes and it is going by way too fast for this Momma. 

 I find myself putting all of my energy somedays towards his big sister because of tantrums or things she needs from me, and he is such a relaxed, calm, chill baby, that placing him in his jumparoo or on a blanket on the floor with some toys is what is easiest, instead of holding him or working with him on certain things. It has made me feel awful and guilty some days because I am not giving him the attention that Charli always received. But thankfully I have been told that it is completely normal with the second child... Seriously though, Second Child Syndrome is totally a thing! ;)

None the less, we love our little man more than words could ever say. He is my happy place when big sis is acting up. He calms me down and his sweet smile simply melts my heart. We can't imagine life without this sweet little soul and knowing God chose us to be his parents is truly a blessing!

Half of a year looks pretty sweet on our little guy! He had a great check-up this morning and is as healthy as they come and it couldn't make us happier! He is in the 70th percentile for weight and 80th for height (much different than big sister's 99%).
He is constantly doing something new and watching his little personality grow and develop makes me so happy. He truly is the sweetest, happiest, most loving little boy and his smile makes everyone who meets him or sees his face smile. He has added two more states to his list, which puts him around 21 states he has been to so far. He has visited Vermont, has finally been in the Snow, and is officially Eating! We will be celebrating his first Valentine's Day tomorrow and are looking forward to everything this month has in store for him! 

Crew's Stats:

*Weight: 18lbs 12oz

*Height: 27 1/2inches
(Fun Fact: Charli at 6 months was 19lbs 14oz and 27inches)

*Diaper Size: Size 2 Pampers Swaddlers

*Clothes: Almost officially out of all 3 months (he can still wear some onsies).  He is wearing all 6 months.

*Teeth: 0 still, but the Pediatrician checked them out and he could see where his right bottom tooth is almost out and his left bottom won't be far behind it, and his top two are swollen. Come on teeth!

*Sleep: He is still an amazing sleeper! We have an occasional "wake up twice in the middle of the night" (due to his teeth and cold he just got over) but he is officially sleeping through the night!! He is in bed and asleep by 6:30-7PM and doesn't wake up until 4:30-5AM and goes back down until 7AM. He had about 4 nights in a row that he slept a full 11 hours, but he seems to be a 9 1/2 to 10 hour sleeper. I am also very thankful that he has always been able to put himself to sleep! Most nights he is already asleep while nursing, but doesn't wake up when I lay him down, but there are plenty of nights that he is wide awake while nursing and I kiss his little head, lay him down, say goodnight, and he is asleep within minutes, no tears!! Much different than Charli! 

He still takes many naps... Some days only 2 but some days up to 4! His first morning nap is around 8:30AM and he goes back down around noon. He occasionally has one little cat nap in between those two and then another around 3PM if his noon nap was only an hour. 

*Food: He has had pureed green beans, peas, sweet potatoes, and squash! He seems to like them all! 

*Words: Mama, Dada, Nana OR Nini (however, these are mostly grunts and noises that we take to be these words!) 

*Social: He seriously loves everybody! He will let anybody hold him, but always has a watchful eye on where his Momma is! Playing with friends and big sis is his favorite! He thinks Charli is hilarious and will full on belly laugh at her (seriously my favorite thing)! 

*Other: He officially grabs his feet and holds them, he learned how to blow raspberries, he is still a scratcher, loves bath time, loves his diaper being changed, and is still the most ticklish little boy I have ever met! He can sit up all by himself for a couple of minutes, though he seems to really care less and is so happy and content just laying there. He does however find it extremely hilarious when we do sit him up and he decides he is going to throw himself backwards to fall down... He belly laughs so hard (seriously, is this a sign of having a dare devil little boy or what?!). He is really starting to scoot... I will find him completely off his play mat or blanket in just seconds.

Happy 1/2 Birthday bubs! 

We love you oh so very much! 

Evite Contributor:

It is no secret that I have a true love and passion for decorating, party planning, and styling. Something that has always been a fun hobby for me, something that just makes me happy, has now been noticed by others! When I was approached to be a contributor for Evite's website I was in shock, yet so excited for the opportunity! To see that others love my ideas and decor is truly humbling! 

So I am excited to announce that I am now a Contributor for Evite's Gatherings website! Evite is an online brand and leading digital invitation and social event planning service. 

They have featured Charli's Second Birthday Party on their website and I couldn't be more excited to share it with all of you!  

You can see Charli's Crab Shack Party

Here

Thank you again Evite and I look forward to contributing more! 

Our Newport Home: Valentine's Edition:

Valentine's Day is just a few short days away, and while I haven't been very motivated (like at all) to do Valentine's crafts with Charli or to make Valentine's for her friends (because we probably won't even be seeing anybody and it didn't make much since), I did at least decorate for the occasion so we could get in to a cheery/festive mood! 

I don't do much for Valentine's Day but I like to at least put some festive decor up. I love celebrating every holiday even more so now that we have children. To see how excited Charli gets with each new holiday is truly priceless! 

So here is a look into what our home looks like this Valentine's season! 

Living Room:

 I wanted to keep a Winter feel to my decor this year since it is still Winter around our neck of the woods and it is snowing as I type this with more snow on the way! 

So using my Winter Pinecones worked out perfectly! 

I did get up the energy to make a few new Valentine's decor crafts and I am loving them all!

Galvanized XO- I used wooden letters, spray painted them black, then spray painted them with metallic spray paint, then sanded down by hand

Cupid's Arrows- I did a simple version Last Year but threw them away. This year I wanted to make ones I would keep. I used wooden skewers, stained them with wood finish, hot glued feathers, and hot glued construction paper triangles. To finish off the look I used rope twine to tie around the feathers for extra security.

Vintage Love Notes- I painted a little coffee onto envelopes, blow dried them with my hair dryer, and voila! I finished off the look by tying them together with rope twine!

Kitchen:

And Valentine's treats are always a good idea! 

Happy Decorating & Happy Valentine's Week! 

DODO's Weekend in Newport:

My brother lives in St. Croix (yes the Virgin Islands) and had a week long trip planned to see his girlfriend who lives in Connecticut for some time. They made the drive in to Newport for the weekend and for Susie's birthday now that we are living up here! Happy Birthday again Susie, so glad we could spend it with you! 

We haven't seen my brother since Crew was born in August and we don't know when we will get to see him again, so to say we were excited he was coming to town would be an understatement! Charli couldn't wait to see my brother, but after he walked into the house and took off his beanie she didn't quite recognize him as he has been growing his hair out (and trust me, we have all asked him to cut it but he won't). Needless to say, Charli ran to her room and started crying, stating "Dodo's hair scared me". And this my friends is why he left his beanie on all weekend... hahaha! That and the fact that it is freezing and snowing out and my brother doesn't like the cold!  

With the weather we have been having (cold and snowing) we didn't do much that required being outside. We did dinner Friday evening for Susie's birthday, at Diego's (to all my Jax friends and family, it would remind you of Taco Lu), we did a wine tasting Saturday, brunched it at home on Sunday. Darren and Susie hit up some bars one night and did a beer and rum tasting while they were here, but for the most part we lounged around and just hung out, and it was honestly perfect! 

Though it was a short visit, we are incredibly grateful we got to see him and Susie and that he could spend some quality time with his niece and nephew! 

Because that is what was most important to us all!   

So glad you guys made the trip to see us!

We miss you already and can't wait to see you again! 

Crew's First Food:

Well it is official... Our sweet boy has had something other than momma's milk.

After much deliberation we made the executive decision to give Crew his first taste of food a little earlier than we expected. This was extremely hard on me for a few reasons. The first being that now he doesn't solely need me anymore (I had the same emotions with Charli), second being that he was only 5 months old. We gave Charli her First Food a couple days before she turned 6 months, so giving Crew his food even earlier had me going nuts!  But lastly because it is something we needed to do because of some medical/health issues going on with me (I will update on all of that soon, I promise). So coming to terms with the fact that this was something we had to do was very hard for me. 

So on the evening of January 22nd, after saying the blessing, we sat around the dinner table together as a family and let daddy give Crew his first bite of pureed green beans!

 We will be making Crew's food just as we did for Charli but we are also more relaxed this go around and are fine with him eating certain organic baby foods as long as the ingredients are just the pureed veggie or fruit. The only concern for us is food allergies due to my Celiac Disease so we will keep a very close eye on him as well. 

He has since had green peas and is currently on sweet potatoes. Our little man seems to love it all! 

I still can't believe he is old enough to be eating...

Seriously, didn't I just have him.

Charli's First Time Bowling:

Last Sunday (Jan 25) we wanted to get out of the house for a little bit of family fun before we had to hunker down at home for the Blizzard. With the freezing winter temps up here we needed to do something indoors and bowling won. We realized we had never taken Charli and since my husband loves to bowl (the man has his own shoes and ball people), bowling it was! So we packed up the kiddos and off to the bowling ally on base with some friends we went! 

I can't tell you how much fun it was! To see how excited Charli got with each roll of the ball, whether the pins were hit or not! Watching her little hands carry the ball all by herself to the lane and pushing it down the ramp! There was a permanent smile on all of our faces just watching her light up every time it was her turn and the high fives after every roll we all got! 

She really did absolutely amazing and even beat me at one game (although I am going to blame it on my thumb nail almost ripping off) but none the less she did so great! This is definitely going to be a monthly or even weekly outing for our little family now... 

We already made our second trip yesterday! :)