Bloods at the Beach

Thanks to the generosity of Mom & Dad Blood, it was off to Holden Beach for the Blood clan again! This time we had everyone minus Elizabeth (who had just had a baby) and James. We still needed 3 houses to fit everyone! Thankfully one had a giant kitchen area perfect for serving the masses meals. 

Rebekah buries Seth

Yes, that is Seth under the hat.

Rebekah was quite thorough.

Aaron was a full on beach lover this year.

He was also the only one who actually kept his hat on the whole time.

The shade dwellers

Elise & Tauriel

Giant beach baby.

Having a baby at the beach was not the most fun for me. It's hard to nurse if you're in a sandy, salty swimming suit. Plus it was just really hot & humid. Thankfully we figured out that soaking his blanket in water and wrapping him in it helped him stay cool. But we still spent a lot of time at the beach house nursing and napping instead of playing in the water. Not unexpected, but still kind of lame. Thankfully the kids (and Jon, mostly) had a great time and still made it to the water every day thanks to kind aunts & uncles. 

Mom Blood wanted a picture of everyone at the beach. Thankfully Claudia brought her nice camera and a tripod, so we were able to get one. Not as nice as our professional ones from a few years ago, but much easier and cheaper! 

Mom wanted a picture with EVERYONE in it, so she had me add in James & Samantha and Elizabeth's family. It's not amazing, but it appeased Mom. 

And the standard crazy version: 

Fat beach baby was not a fan of the waves: 

Seth spent most of his time building things in the sand, as usual. 

Andrew and Benjamin were his constant sidekicks, which was awesome.

He also made friends with another boy there visiting. 

Seth has no trouble finding friends wherever he goes: 

Aaron was also a sand-dweller most of the time: 

Elise loved the water and was always demanding that someone take her to the waves: 

Seth was allowed to use his laptop for a little while in the afternoons.

He was quite popular with all the cousins during this time:

We mostly forced the kids to eat outside for cleaning purposes.

They didn't seem to mind: 

Elijah is almost as big as Brianna: 

Possibly my favorite picture from the beach: 

I love that Aaron has Eowyn to be his buddy!

Brief Sketches

When you open the dryer and find this inside, there's only one explanation:

Elise.

Catherine is my little naturalist. She's always outside investigating the plants and bugs. Somehow she discovered a tree with berries on it. She collected the berries and used them to make "Dyeberry juice." She actually painted several pictures with her homemade dye! And stained a few outfits...

If you're a REAL lady, all you need are some heels to feel dressed up.

Seth has started blogging and wanted a profile picture.

I couldn't have taken a more 'Seth' picture if I tried...

I tried putting gel in Aaron's hair one Sunday.

I need to just give up and accept that his hair cannot be restrained.

I snapped this picture of the girls through the front window.

Emma is moving away soon and we're going to miss these moments with good friends.

Super Spider-Elise to the rescue!

In case you were wondering...Catherine still loves bugs.

Elise snuck into the room and ducked suspiciously behind the end of the bed.

I caught her in the attempt.

"Elise, you don't need any makeup on!"

"Yes my do! I want it all the time!"

Aaron LOVES Elijah

Aaron doesn't tend to do very many things in part. It's either nothing, or 100%. That includes loving Elijah. He doesn't just love him, he LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVES him. Almost terrifyingly intense love. 

If Elijah is around, Aaron is RIGHT THERE.

Sneaking in for a head rub

No peace, even during the monthly photo shoot.

Giant Aaron head in Elijah's face

This looks totally safe...

Snuggling with Mommy AND Elijah??

Best Aaron Day ever!

Water Play

My friend Pohai offered to host swim lessons in her pool this summer. I wasn't sure it would be worth the money or the driving time, but I was wrong! Miss Kate was AMAZING and both kids learned way more than they would have at our usual swim lessons. 

And then it was time to start thinking about our beach trip.

Elijah busted out his sunglasses and his beach bod:

Aunt Kenna made fun of his beach bod.

He was highly offended:

Church Fun

Our Primary presidency put together a fun game and movie night for the Primary kids to enjoy. The kids had a lovely time (as did the grown ups, who are always happy to have a chance to chat). 

Brie & Tessa love on Elijah

Aaron decided to go to for the "really hot ninja" look that evening.

Elise, Anuhea, Matthew & Aaron playing parachute with Abi.

We weren't up for the late night that the movie-watching would entail, but the Knoxes were kind and let Seth stay to watch:

Seth is almost eleven, at which point he'll move up into Boy Scouts. This Raingutter Regatta was probably his very last activity as a Cub. Crazy how fast that time went!

Seth vs. Catherine

No contest!

Seth vs. Aaron (with assistance from Julia).

Aaron wins!

I'm so grateful for their leaders and all the effort they put into loving and teaching my kids. 

Two Months

Two months of Elijah!

Normally two months is my least favorite month of baby, but you've been a pretty easy kid. Of course, in the week before you hit two months you started taking 45 minute naps and getting more difficult to put to sleep, so maybe month #3 will be the hardest for you!

Here's what you're up to at two months:

-Sleeping at night like a champ! You still go to bed pretty late (between 9:30 and 10:00 pm), but you'll usually sleep until 5 am, nurse, and then sleep again until at least 7 am. I feel very spoiled.

-Of course, the last few hours of sleep (starting at around 3 am) are not restful sleep. You'll squirm, grunt, and occasionally cry out. After several hours of this, you'll finally get it all out (and usually explode out of your diaper). I am always so happy when this stage ends.

-You want to go down for a nap in the morning almost exactly an hour after waking up. But that's about it as far as a schedule goes.

-You will not take a pacifier. At all. This is a first for us. Thankfully you're very mellow, so we've rarely felt like we needed one.

-Nursing is your favorite. You nurse when you wake up and you nurse when you fall asleep. Which is probably why you weighed in at 14 lbs. 12 oz. at your checkup. That's 93%. You were also 24 inches, which is 83%. You're bigger than Seth, who was a chunk, and almost as big as Catherine was at a year old (16.5 lbs).

Adorable Sunday outfit that we shoved you into.

You'll never be able to wear it again.

-Related: you're wearing 3-6 month or 6 month clothing. Size two diapers.

-Grandma Sara informed us while she was here that you were a tummy sleeper. After a couple rough naps, I tried putting you on your belly. You slept for two hours (and I was sure you were going to die the entire time). I'm still not very comfortable with the idea of belly sleeping, but after trying literally everything else and only getting 10 minutes out of you, we're back to belly sleeping for naps.

Please don't die of SIDS...

-At night you sleep in a swing in our room. I think it's odd that you are okay sleeping there at night but REFUSE to nap in there during the day. I bought you a special swaddle that just wraps your arms: it's too hot for the full swaddle. Your typical sleeping setup is a onesie, swaddle and a light blanket over your legs (but not covering your feet--you kick off anything that covers your feet).

My absolute favorite picture of you, courtesy of Catherine.

-I don't have much to complain about, but I do hate that you wake up the second the car stops moving. Most of our kids would stay sleeping in their car seats, but we're lucky if you sleep at all after the car stops moving (including red lights). Guess maybe that's part of the belly sleeping thing?

-There are some rather intense battles over who gets to hold you. Mostly Brie & Emma, but sometimes Bekah, Julia, or some of my friends. You are very adored and rarely spend any time with me during church.

Aaron still loves you INTENSELY. Very intensely.

Catherine made you cookies for your two-month birthday.

She even threw a candle on top.

You also got a beautiful birthday crown.

Ah, the ceiling fan. Every baby's greatest joy.

My friend gave me a wrap to carry you around in.

You were not a fan.

It was only acceptable if you could dangle your head out.

Basically, you're just too big for these things already!

Still the preferred napping spot.

-Your smiles, coos, and (occasional) laughs are the best. We all adore you. Here's hoping you stay this sweet and easy as you grow!

Summer Fun Begins!

Another summer, another visit to Plumpton Park Zoo!

We decided to swap Elijah out for Brie (at least for this picture).

We decided to join the Aberdeen pool again this summer. It was a chilly weekend when it finally opened, but Catherine insisted that we NEEDED to go. I wasn't looking forward to the pool with a baby, but seeing this chub in a swimsuit brightened me right up:

We even stopped on the way to the pool to buy him a floatie.

He hated it.

A failed deep-end swim test combined with chilly water made for a very unhappy (and cold) Catherine. When we got home it was straight to the tub for some warm soaking in the bubbles. Seth is still disappointed that he's too big to join them.

Catherine is still my little cook. I can't even remember why she wanted to make cookies this day. Quite possibly there was no reason: she just wanted to make cookies. And, as always, she had lots of help from Aaron & Elise.

Sometimes a mom is so desperate for a shower that she brings the baby in with her. And sometimes the three-year-old finds them in the shower, strips down, and joins them. It was a very cozy shower/bath for all of us...

Looking forward to a fun (and hopefully relaxing) summer!