2014 Summer Vacation {Cocoa Beach}

We got back home from our 10 days of vacation last Sunday. In addition to a nice tan, vacation was exactly what we needed to get some much needed rest and adult time! Between Grandma and Grandpa, we had lots of babysitting opportunities that allowed Matt and I to fish, swim in the ocean, drink lime-a-ritas and play cornhole...uninteruppted and without being attached to a monitor! I totally get why people with newborns (without help) don't go on beach vacations now. Just packing the car to go on vacation is enough work to need a vacation. Gone are the days of only packing a few swim suits and some books. Nope. We completely filled Matt's truck bed and everyone thought we were absolutely crazy for bringing as much as we did (mom asked "why don't you just fly down?") but we used every bit of what we brought, minus our stroller ironically.

Anyway, let's recap our 4 wonderful beach days...

For the 4th we dressed Caroline in her festive attire for a few family pictures and then off to bed she went before the fireworks started. Baby girl slept soundly through two nights of firework shows. I can't wait for the 4th once she's a bit older and can have fun watching the fireworks with us.

You know who didn't like the fireworks? This guy...

We also went deep sea fishing and caught a few dolphin, tunas and a baracuda!

 On our last morning at the beach we got up extra early (and makeup-less) to take Caroline down to see the ocean and feel the sand. We also took Charlie. Both enjoyed the experience equally. And as to be expected, we took an excessive amount of photos of Caroline but I'll refrain from posting all of them and give you the highlights...

And now we are back home, battling nap times and trying to get back on schedule. Totally worth it though.

Thank You Day

 The past few days I've been extra tired due to Caroline's new favorite hobby of not sleeping the past few nights. That girl is so afraid she's going to miss out on something if she nods off for a bit. Anyway, I am ready for this new schedule in our Moms on Call program to take so I can get back to our long precious stretches of sleep she was giving us on her previous schedule. Any other MOC users experience a sleep regression during the schedule change at 8 weeks?

Anyway, speaking of not sleeping, I am such a grouch when I don't get my sleep. And not just a morning grouch but an all day grouch. Poor Matt, he's learned how to delicately handle me in the mornings after a sleepless night. Last night during one of the shifts (I think it was the 2:30 am shift) I reached over and grabbed the monitor and threw it over to Matt's side of the bed in an it's-your-turn gesture. So sweet, right? Anyway, he's such a saint and graciously got up every hour last night for me to change diapers and feed the little one.

That brings me to thankfulness. Sometimes I just don't tell him how much I appreciate him. And after reading this article this morning I decided that tomorrow I am going to surprise him with a day of thank you notes. He certainly deserves to know how much I appreciate him and I wish I were better about telling him more often. So tomorrow it is on - thank you day. Watch out mirrors, truck, coffee mugs, lunch box, brief case and remote, I'm coming for ya with some sticky notes...

Feel free to join me, even if you tell your man how much you appreciate him all the time, he still likes to hear it.

Happy Birthday, Matt!

Yesterday was Matt's 34th birthday!    Y'all know I love celebrating birthdays so I had big plans to run across town to pick up his favorite booze, grab some balloons and put on makeup. Anyway, none of that happened. Caroline is still hanging out on vacation time and on top of that we've started a new Mom's on Call schedule this week so yesterday was seriously rough. She refused to sleep and wanted to be held all day (and no, the k'tan wrap wasn't good enough). Ergh. So anyway, I didn't get to bake a cake from scratch like I usually do for his birthday (post here). However, I did have funfetti cake mix on hand that I doctored up a bit and a small stash of homemade rainbow chip frosting in the freezer.

I also used my jumbo muffin tin to make huge cupcakes which were a big hit! And instead of vegetable oil I used coconut oil which made them so ridiculously moist and delicious.

Note: I wrote in the card after I snapped this pic to save y'all from the cheesiness.

I knocked his gift out of the park this year. I surprised Matt with Jason Aldean concert tickets (his favorite country artist) and already secured a babysitter for the night (thank you Mr. and Mrs. Marcellino)!

When Matt got home, I passed the baby off to him and they took a quick snooze together while I prepped dinner. We decided his birthday was the perfect occasion to eat the fish we caught over the weekend instead of going out for a fancy dinner (our tradition for his birthday).
Matt's birthday celebration may have looked a little different this year but he loved it so I'm going to mark it as a success! Happy Birthday, Matt! We love you!