Sunny Side Up: Summer's Heat and Baby Rolls

Our little butter cake at the beach for the first time.

First, I apologize for the lack of posting. As you read it will become clear that we've been quite busy since. (And just being a new mom and remembering to shower for the day it usually the top priority on my list, and sometimes that doesn't even get done!)

This summer has been filled with so many events it's hard to talk about them all, so I will just talk about the most exciting ones, beginning with our first family vacation to the beach. To soak up the last off weekend in the race season until the end of November Ray and I decided to head down to Myrtle Beach for a fun, first family vacation. Being a last minute packer worked when it was just Ray and I. But I didn't realize you'd need something short of a U-Haul (or Penske Rental truck) when you have a baby. A 6 day vacation calls for 103 baby outfits, a BJ's size box of diapers, night time diapers, swim diapers, pack-n-play, beach towels, sunscreen, sun tent for baby, extra sheets for the crib, stroller, carriers, Bumbo chair, blankets, etc. Anyway, we managed not to forget anything! Emma Kate was a champ in the long 4.5 hour car ride. The next day we took no time venturing for the beach. As we were unloading our car a security guard sauntered over with a smile on his face (sign that we weren't in trouble so he must be coming over to admire our ever so adorable chunk). He looks at Ray and says "I've had five of those. At that age, I give you 45 minutes...an hour tops. See you soon." Of course, we thought, that's other babies. Emma Kate is awesome. We spend 15 minutes settling in to our spot on the beach, our beach chairs get accidently stolen by an eight year old, Ray chases the family down before they drive off and EK is taking a snooze in her tent...perfect. When she wakes we take her for her first dip in the ocean. She loved it, although we didn't get a picture of her smiling.

Once we got her out of the ocean, she got hungry. This did not work out as she was hot under the nursing cover. Then our beach neighbor lit up a cigaret, so rude but I won't get on that soap box here. This called for a very unhappy baby. On top of her woes, she poops, a lot. Princess Poopy Pants strikes again, she was now swimming in yellow mush. So we decided to pack up and head back to the condo...our total time on the beach?...50 minutes. As we walk back to the car the security guard waves and we wave back, defeated. The next day was too hot for anything so we went to the mall. By Wednesday we were exhausted but determined, at the moment, to hang in there. That evening we get a phone call that our little nephew Timothy Scott had entered the world! We were so excited but family encouraged us to enjoy the rest of our trip. About 3 hours later at 8pm Emma Kate came down with quite a severe tummy ache. After screaming, crying, pooping, and a bath we finally get her to calm down. That is, until he bangs her nose on Rays thumb as we are getting her dressed. After more screaming and crying, we finally coax her to sleep by 11pm. At that point we decided to head home early. The beach in the middle of the summer with a 3 and half month old is just too much. We packed up as much as we could that night and we were on the road home by 11am the next day. Everyone slept hard Thursday night and Friday we went to visit Timothy. After seeing his sweet face, the joy in Angela's eyes and the pride on my brother's face we knew it was the right decision to cut vacation short.

Timothy meeting his uncle Ray

On our way home from Charlotte we decided to soak up our last few days and relax; a staycation as people call it. This will be awesome! The chickens (we have 7 of them, I'll maybe write about them later, along with our gardening ventures), on the other hand decided to take an exploration while we were gone to Charlotte. We pull in and walk around back to check on the little creatures. They were gone...all of them...nowhere to be found! Panic started to set in. Did the fox get the rest of them? He already got one. But there were no signs of struggle. Did our neighbors steal them? No, they hate our chickens... Gasp! they must have called animal control! No, they can't do that. Where are they?! Ray checks the woods behind the house, no chickens. He hops in the truck and takes a cruise around the neighborhood. The girls had sauntered their way through the woods and were happily grazing in our neighbor's back yard! (The phrase should be "curious as a chicken" not "curious as a cat") We manage to herd them back to our yard, squawking and flapping, without our neighbor knowing they were there. Needless to say they were on coop arrest for the next day or so. So much for staycation.

The rest of our summer has been wonderful. Emma Kate had her first 4th of July. We bought a wonderful truck that we love. Ray is working hard on transforming our side yard into a beautiful garden so we can grown fresh food and our chickens should be laying eggs by the end of August. It's hard to believe that Emma Kate will be 4 months old this week on August 1st. Time has flown and she is starting to become quite independent, sitting in her own chair, holding onto and playing with toys, trying her hardest to roll over and having 3 nights of sleeping for 8 hours straight! Lets hope this is a new habit. Our favorite thing this summer has been seeing her learn to laugh. We, without a doubt, have the happiest baby on the planet. She will laugh and smile at pretty much anything and only fusses when she's tired. We are truly blessed with a wonderful family and do not take advantage of the blessing the Lord has poured upon us with the means to plant gardens, raise chickens, buy truck loads for diapers and take vacations, even if they are cut short.