Fun at the Beach!

This past weekend we went down to Destin with Matt's family! We had such a good time, and it was so good to get to see everyone! We got there around lunch on Thursday and came back Sunday... it was a great long weekend. Matt's brother and his family came over from Germany, and we haven't seen them in years so it was great to be able to spend time together. We spent some time at the beach, at the pool, out at dinner and just hanging out in the condo. We even celebrated Uncle Mike and Isaac's birthdays while we were there... it was so much fun! I took tons of pictures of everything. Of course the one day I wanted to take some family pics it was cloudy... that's okay though, the lighting isn't so good, but the pics are still pretty cute! Hayden had a great time with Seraphina and Isaac(his cousins). They are older, but it was still entertaining for Hayden. It was so cute seeing them interact with him... he was like a little toy for them to play with! I always think it is so cute seeing little kids holding babies, and they were definitely no exception. It was the cutest thing ever!!

They are all so happy first thing in the morning!

How cute is it that Seraphina is in mid clap...

so excited for Isaac that he was holding Hayden(who
looks quite comfortable I must add!!!)!

Such cute cousins!

We went out to dinner a couple of times, once to the Crab Trap and once to Fudpucker's. They were both really good restauranats... I LOVE seafood so it was right up my alley! The waits to eat were really long both nights, and the first night, at Crab Trap, Hayden didn't even make it through dinner without falling asleep! Fudpucker's was a bit of a different story because there was so much to do while you were waiting. We got to look at alligators, take pictures with all their "props", look at the gift shop, play on the playground, make a penny, ride a toy alligator, and even walk through a little mini museum type of thing. It was all about alligators... pretty cute! It was definitely smart of the restaurant because you never even noticed there was a wait... so much to do! Hayden made it through dinner this time, but as soon as we got in the car he was OUT!

Seraphina's getting eaten by an alligator...HELP!!

Isaac riding the gator!

Too cute!

That was one big gator!

Cool boat huh?!?

We had a great time hanging out at the pool and beach with everyone. I took so many pictures I had to make a slide show... too many cute ones to leave them out! Seraphina and Isaac enjoyed their boogie boards and Hayden had fun in his crab float. We jumped quite a few waves and even got to ride some! The water was so clear you could see your feet at the bottom... it was awesome! We saw tons of cool fish, a few crabs, and even some things I didn't know the name of!! We also attempted to make a sand castle, but we didn't quite get finished! Maybe next year!! Hayden absolutely LOVED the sand. Actually, he even thought it tasted good... I couldn't get him to quit eating it!!! When I was little we always used to bury someone when we went to the beach, and we looked forward to it every year. I think Hayden will be the one that gets buried in our family... he didn't mind the sand on him at all! We actually buried our feet(mine and Hayden's that is) and it was fun, but we didn't bury a person this time. I guess we have a lot to catch up on next year! Start preparing yourself Daddy...your getting buried!!

This is what your face looks like after enjoying
tons of sand in your mouth!

Seraphina and Isaac posing with their boogie boards!

Isn't Daddy sweet to let me have his glasses??

HELP... we're getting buried!

Feet, feet, feet!

Pool time fun!

We love the beach!

Uncle Mike helped dig Hayden a hole,

and then Hayden jumped right in to
help us with the castle!!

Gotta love this boy!

Oh, and I just had to include these last two pictures... they were the very first pictures I took on the trip! Our breakfast stop at Cracker Barrel! How cute is the mini rocker?!? If we had a bigger front porch we would definitely have it... it was so cute watching Matt and Hayden side by side!

My boys!

This one is just my size Momma!

Let's swim!

A couple of weeks ago Hayden started his first swim lessons and they are so cute! I don't think he will be swimming like a fish when they are over, but they are definitely providing us with a lot of fun on Monday and Wednesday mornings! We sing lots of songs and play lots of swimming games in the water. Hayden has done great so far. His favorite things are the motorboat and Humpty Dumpty. They give us a little kick board for the kids to use and we push them around the water while they are riding. We sing a little motorboat song while pushing them around... it is really cute. Hayden really loves this activity, especially when we push the motorboad FAST!!! Another activity he seems to enjoy is Humpty Dumpty. We sit the kids(who we call Humpty Dumpty at this time!) on the edge of the pool(Humpty's wall!) and then Humpty(Hayden) falls off the wall. I basically pull him off the side of the pool, but Hayden literally puts his arms out and leans forward waiting for me to catch him from the fall! It is so cute that he knows what is coming! We also swim for duckies, learn how to float on our backs, play ring around the rosies, do the hokey pokey, play with a ball, blow bubbles, splash around, paddle, kick and even sing some more songs. Hard to believe all that can fit in one 30 minute class huh?!? Hayden and I even splashed around in a little water sprinkler last week! Although he isn't going to be a swimmer when the classes are over, it is fun to play around in the water for 30 minutes twice a week. We are taking the class with a couple of our friends so it is fun for both Mommy and Hayden! Matt has gotten to come to a couple of the lessons which was nice. He was able to get quite a few pictures for us... everyone knows how excited I was about this!!! He will be swimming with Hayden on his lesson tomorrow... I know Hayden is pumped to be going to class with Daddy!

Hayden on his motorboat!

Swimming for his ducky

Posing for a picture with Ellie and Kimmie...
two of our friends in the class!

OK, so sometimes I get a little more excited than
Hayden during the class... I am sure his
face didn't quite match mine!!!!

These were taken when Humpty fell off of the wall...

This is Humpty swimming back to the wall!!

Mommy and Hayden splashing in the water

Ellie, Peyton and Hayden right before class... can't
you tell they are ready to get in that water?!?

Ms. Deb(our teacher) and Hayden

Practicing our floating... Hayden almost fell asleep
during this exercise on the first day.
It was the funniest thing ever!

Posing again... this time Heather and Peyton
made it for the pic!

Kicking those feet...

We were supposed to be paddling here,but
as you can see Hayden was enjoying his
hands far to much to even think about
paddling!

I promise he had just as much fun as me!

Splish, Splash

As you know, we love bath time around here! I am always taking pictures and believe it or not we have even managed to get quite a few baths on video. I made a little movie of a few of his baths since he was born so I thought I would share it with everyone. It is cool to watch how much things have changed in 7 months!

When Hayden was first born he wasn't crazy about bath time, but as you can see things have really changed. He LOVES it now! It is so funny watching the video of his first bath at the hospital and seeing all the flashes going off in the background. Hayden was quite the celebrity when he was born! As a matter of fact, he is still treated like a celebrity to this day... I am the paparazzi!!! I think he thinks everyone walks around with a camera and a camcorder! I absolutely love how animated he is now. Here are a few recent pics from bath time...


Hayden is really into playing with his bath toys and it is so much fun to watch. You get extremely wet while giving him a bath, but it is all worth it! I let him try his first bubble bath not too long ago and that was a big hit. He loves looking at the bubbles, talking to the bubbles, playing with the bubbles and even eating the bubbles! Yes, I did say eating... he will get them all over his hands and then put his hands right in his mouth. I guess he doesn't mind the taste of soap! I am constantly having to wipe the bubbles off his hands the entire bath, because he is always wiping them in his face. The towel is located right next to my little stool!! Hayden is so excited to be in the bath splashing around, he doesn't even think about it when he puts the bubbles all over himself! Speaking about excited, he is quite the talker during his baths. He only says a few words I actually know, but he thinks I understand every little thing that comes out of his mouth. I wouldn't have it any other way... I love our conversations. I am going to try to post a video of him saying all of his "words" soon. They are too cute! Usually he will try to mock what we say, but when the camera comes out he doesn't always perform, so we'll see! That is the shaking of the head you see in the most recent part of the bath video. He just shakes his head no when we ask him to say something and we are taping it! We'll try to get him to do it somewhere other than the bath so he's not distracted! Can't interrupt his bath time... he loves it as much as his Momma!

Oh, the 4th...

TIRED me out! Well, we couldn't really do a whole lot because Matt had to work, but it still managed to leave me extremely exhausted. By the end of the night I was so tired I didn't even manage to get in the bath to wash the bug spray off me(that is a big deal for me!). Hayden and I did some shopping(where I managed to get him a 4th of July flag I might add!), cleaning, picture taking, LOTS of playing and even managed to get a few things together for our cookout. Gigi and Grandaddy/Pawpaw came up to celebrate/eat(what we do best!!) with us after Matt got off work. We had yummy hot dogs and hamburgers and oh so good chocolate chip cookies!!! Some of our neighbors bought a ton of fireworks and we were lucky enough to be able to see them right from our backyard. It was like we had a first row seat to the show... and they were very good I might add! I thought Hayden would make it for the fireworks, but no such luck there. He was in bed before they even started. I really thought he would like them if he could have stayed up, because of the bright lights and all, but obviously his dreams are much more important! I really thought the loud noise would wake him up, but he slept right through all of it. We had the monitor outside just in case, but he never even made a peep! I guess it is a good thing we didn't go to a venue other than our house, because we would have had a very unhappy little boy!! Sydney did get to watch the fireworks with us, but she HATED them. She got scared of the loud noise and we had to hold her the whole time. She was able to socialize with everyone after they were over, so that part was fun for her. We visited with neighbors after the fireworks were over, and everyone had a really good time. Although the fireworks were great, the most memorable part of the 4th was the fact that is was the day separation anxiety began for Hayden. It both began and was in full force all in one day! You know it is bad when Grandaddy/Pawpaw can't even hold him without him crying. The only way to get him to quit crying was for Matt or I to hold him. Needless to say, that is part of the reason the day tired me out so much! Hopefully it is a phase he is going through... and a short one!! Through it all, we were still able to have a great 4th and got some really cute pics!

I think this was my favorite... it has it all. The red, white,
and blue I made us wear, the flag I REALLY wanted
Matt to hold in our "family" 4th picture, smiles,
and to top it all off, Hayden pulling my hair!!
What more could I ask for?!?

I tried really hard to get Sydney to look!

Playtime!

The let me see your teeth smile!

This is what I mean by separation anxiety!!

Cutie pie

Happy 4th of July!

Mommy's little firecracker!