Last week may have been my favorite week of all time. Mike and I were blessed to travel before we had our girls and I remember thinking that vacations would look a little different once we had a family. What I didn't understand, was how much joy and laughter would fill my week as I watched Abigail and Violet explore new things at the beach!
We decided to leave around 3:00 in the morning which I have to tell you is the BEST plan ever with little travelers. I told Abigail that I was going to come get her in the middle of the night and put her in the car so we could go to the beach. That morning, I slipped in her room and quietly woke her up. I whispered that we were going to the beach and just like her mommy, she whipped those covers off and got a huge smile on her face!
The beach is my happy place and watching Abigail's face light up as she explored the ocean and the sand was priceless for me. Each morning, we started the day down by the ocean finding shells and chasing after the seagulls. She was not afraid of the sand at all this year, but the waves breaking definitely rattled her. This picture is my favorite and I will always remember her little arms reaching up at me saying "Hold you Mommy, hold you." I will always hold you sweet girl.
Violet also enjoyed her time down by the ocean. We tried to get down to the beach before her morning nap. While Abigail danced around in the sand and made castles with her daddy, Violet rocked away to the sound of the ocean waves. Praise the good Lord for the beach swing!
So many sights and sounds were new for Violet and watching Abigail learn about stingrays, crabs, jumping fish, dolphins, and sea shells was a joy to watch.
Mike and I were also super lucky to have his parents join us at the beach! I love that they were able to enjoy the girls and it was a wonderful treat to have time in the mornings to run and a little alone time each day to sit under our umbrellas and stare at the ocean! Thank you Dan and Alice! We love you!
Not only did they spoil Mike and I with date nights and morning runs, but they also hopped around and sang little tunes so that Abigail and Violet would look up for pictures. That's a job y'all!
I'm pretty sure Abigail had the best week ever. Every morning we took her down to the beach to play and each afternoon after her nap, we headed down to the pool for what I like to call "jumping hour". She is getting brave and my sweet husband tossed her around and caught her as she jumped in the water until I think he needed a nap! Violet loved the kiddie pool. We had a little ring float that supported her enough that she could walk across the shallow pool and splash the water as she went! This was epic fun for a nine month old!
We enjoyed a few nights searching for beach treasure in the sand and filling Abigail's bucket with beautiful shells. I was also surprised at how brave she was with her little flash light looking for sand crabs. She even tried to help pick a few up which is more than her mommy will do. I will hold the flashlight...that is all.
Violet just smiled and tried to follow Abigail on every adventure. She is trying so hard to pull up and walk and I can see in her sweet face that she just wants to take off and follow her big sister. Slow down sweet girl!
I think this probably makes twenty plus years of memories in Gulf Shores and this week goes down as my favorite. Of course I have wonderful memories of my family vacations, girl trips to the beach and my pre-kid years with my sweetheart on this sand, but watching my babies see and do things for the first time is a joy that has been beautiful and unexpected! See you next year Gulf Shores!
Well, it's official! I have one adorable little explorer. I hope I enjoyed all the snuggles and kisses because this little one has places to go and things to do. She is very curious and fast! I love how babies figure out the fastest way to scoot along. This is Violet's go to move. Left leg up, right knee down, and take off!
She is also trying hard to communicate with us which can be pretty funny at times. For instance, she apparently has strong opinions about what she prefers to eat as there are times she will hold her breath and scream until pears magically appear on a spoon! True story. This girl loves pears. Abigail would open her little mouth like a bird and let me feed her anything until she was a toddler, but Miss Violet is not having it! I have discovered she will NOT eat parsnips or green beans unless you give that baby a few bites of pear.
Here is what Violet is doing at 9 months old:
* Trying to pull up on anything near by. Tears...
* Working on her pincer grasp to eat table foods. She gets a few things in her mouth and Miller gets a lot of food falling from the high chair. Everybody wins!
* Favorite foods are pears and spaghetti noodles
* Figuring out how to get puffs out of her snack cup
* Her Favorite toys are her baby doll and her drum
* She has two teeth! Abigail only cut her new teeth while family visited us so I'm sure Violet will have more teeth next week since we will be with Mike's parents at the beach. Oh you just wait!
* She is still the sweetest, happiest, curious little baby
* Her hair looks like it may be darker and straight like her mommy's!
Abigail is being such a good big sister for Violet. She doesn't exactly have the whole sharing thing down and she seems to push her over at least once a day, but I also see the sweetest moments when she hugs Violet and tells her " Mommy loves you" and " It's okay Violet". Sweet babies. My heart is so full!
We are headed to the beach next week with Mike's family and I am so excited for good family time in the sunshine. I love making memories with these sweet girls! Here's hoping that Abigail is a fan of the sand and Violet sleeps in her beach swing all day!
