Beach Baby

Enjoy:

Weston wasn't really into smiling but he put up with it for a bit....

Until he gave me the sign that it was BORING.

I still didn't listen so he gave me this look!

He did allow for his raccoon-eyed Mama to share a picture though!

Lobo brought the rain....

Okay, Mr. Lobo didn't bring the rain, but he didn't keep Tropical Storm Debby from showing up either--thanks!  Since Sunday morning, we have had nonstop rain and it's been a little difficult not to go stir crazy--it's not the easiest with a baby to go out and brave the sideways rain and 40 mph+ wind gusts by the way.
Before the storm we had a wonderful 24 hours or so of fun with Lobo and even discovered The Raw Bar on the other side of Port St. Joe. If you ever get a chance to go, you need to.  It's an old gas station and the coolers where they keep drinks are still there and that's how you grab (yes, serve yourself) your beer, water or soda.  When all is said and done, the waitress just asks what you had to drink.  Oh and hence the name, it's an oyster bar---yummy!
We also attempted rice cereal with Weston and it wasn't so much of a success but at least you can laugh at the pictures of our attempts--we will wait another week and go for it again.
ALSO, enjoy your tax dollars at work as you view the clown act that is Andrew's class here at Tyndall.  They are a clown act for many reasons and so they decided to make that the theme of the their class picture--here are a few outtakes.  

Weston had no clue what was coming to him as we prepared the rice cereal.

Looking as though he was up for the new taste.

Such a letdown apparently!  It was at least enjoyable to watch him!

Weston serving as our centerpiece at The Raw Bar--made for a great conversation piece!

Lobo sharing his key lime pie with us--it really was kind of him since he's such a dessert guy!  :)

Post lunch relaxation on the couch--somehow Weston just seems to fit in; I think the only thing missing is his hand down his diaper for this to be a cliche.  

Yes, a few of these guys actually brought wives with them--Laura and I are trying to keep up with the others!  Are we crazy?!?

KJ wanting in on the clown act.

Beaker from the Muppets!

Weston wanting to skip right over the rice cereal and go for the sandwich!

KJ making the most of the rain by finding good debris to chew on.

Rain, rain go away, KJ wants to go out and play!

Staycation to Destin

Okay, so I guess it's not really a staycation as we had to drive 2 hours west to be on it, but at any rate, we took a few days and spent them with lots of wonderful people while Andrew was "working" in Atlanta.  I say working in quotation marks because there were many late (or early morning) night texts from him.  I guess, technically, they don't need pilot rest before simulators.  :)
Anyways, Weston and I stayed with the Chalkers where he got lots of lovin' and I got lots of kitchen time (I have grown up since 7 years old sitting in the Chalker kitchen enjoying the hours).  Weston also got to meet Sun and Emerie who loved on him--Emerie (who is 1) kept saying "Hi, Baby!" and just wanted to hug and kiss on Weston--it was wonderful to see that he has the power to lure older women in with his baby blues (much like his father).  And, finally, Weston got to experience part of the wonderful crew of women that I worked with at Choctaw as we spent some beach time with the Yuhas' and Smiths' (I wish one of us would have pulled out our camera).
Enjoy the photos of our week of fun!

I couldn't resist taking a photo of Crab Island--it was a gorgeous day!

Weston had a perfect place to bounce and work on his leg strength at the Chalkers'.

Oh geez, Dad, you left me in charge of Mom and the Chalkers and this is what they do?!?

Photo 1:  What?!?  I have to put my hands at 10 and 2?  That seems a little difficult.  How about both hands on 6?
Photo 2: Okay, I can do this.  Buckle up!

Enjoying the lovin' from Emerie.....gosh, I am a lucky guy!

Auntie B teaching me her dance moves from college--Dad's a little worried that I might be attracting the wrong attention.

A year ago, we were both living in Japan and Emerie was just weeks old--now look at us!  :)

See?!?  Emerie can't keep her hands off of Weston!

Finally, here's a video that I made of Weston talking away to his dad on the phone--I can only imagine that he was saying "Save me from mom and all these women!"

It's a 5 month old photo shoot!

We have a 5 month old living with us now!  Wow, again, where did the time go?  Weston seems to have gotten more and more fun as he gets older.  He throws us for loops every now and then, but overall, he is delighting us more and more each day.  AND, the better part is that we seem to be delighting him more and more each day.  He laughs at us and sometimes gets the dorky giggles where he can't stop--it's awesome.  Here are some fun facts about our 5 month old:
He's definitely gotten longer--we measured him again against the length of a piece of paper and he's longer than TWO lengths!  :)
He LOVES to talk--no seriously, he will just sit with you and chitchat away--obviously got that from his dad because his mom doesn't like to talk at all!  Haha!
He has great head control to where he's riding along on our runs sitting up like a big boy in the BOB.
He is close to being able to sit--he is able to balance a bit longer each day (we are talking seconds here) so we are on the road (we think).
He is happy with anyone holding him and just wants to be able to see people.
He is picky about his bed mattress (like his father) as we had to buy a specific mattress to put in his pack'n'play because he was not sleeping very well until he was placed onto our mattress ergo he got a new one so we could have ours back.
He will find a tv in any room and zone in on it--restaurant, someone else's house, if there is a tv, he finds it.
He doesn't mind sitting in the sand or hanging out in the pool, but isn't too sure about the waves at the beach (we are just dipping his feet in them not dunking him or making him body surf, just in case you were worried).
He found his foot once but has since forgotten where it is.
He has learned how to push his bottle away during eating and thus does it often making feeding a challenge for mom and dad--laughing at the challenge mom and dad are having.  Also, he has learned that after a few ounces he can give a coy little smile behind the bottle and it's hard for the big giant holding him not to smile back.
He has found the spot in his bathtub where he can rub is foot along it and it makes a farting noise which of course brings laughter from everyone and thus he does it now every bath!  Is this how little boys learn to make farting noises and that it's entertaining to all?  Oops--sorry to all his teachers in the future!

 As usual, here are some photos of our 5 month old:

Still doesn't seem to mind me taking these pictures.

This is a favorite position of Weston as he looks like he is constantly plotting something--we will have to be on guard for the future.

Look!  A trick, he balances blocks on his belly!  :)

He is measuring up quite nicely with his flight bear--so much bigger than he was when he came home that's for sure!

Lots of Excitement!

The last few weeks have held lots of fun and firsts in the household:  Weston loved having his Grandma Stolee here to visit and play, Weston got his first cold and survived quite happily, Weston had his first night away from mom and dad, Mom and Dad survived their first night away with an evening with the Queen (even though Andrew was the Belle of the Ball), a visit with the Washicheks in Destin, a beautiful evening spent on the beach enjoying a sunset and a bonfire, and finally Andrew's first Father's Day.  Whew, that's a lot in two weeks' time, but it happens to appear on a blog that way because I have just not kept up with it.  So, here are the details in photos as we enjoyed and endured them all!  :)

Here's Weston snuggling in Grandma Stolee's arms....I think he was a little perturbed that his moment was being interrupted. 

Weston giving BIG smiles to Grandma Stolee as he reclines in his own beach chair! By the way, this is when Weston was feeling the effects of his first cold--see, he was quite happily.  The nights were not fun for mom, dad and Grandma, but he was a pretty easy patient.    

Weston and Grandma Stolee chilling on the front porch of the rental house.  (Sorry to say that this is the only shot of Grandma Stolee's face we have with Weston--along with Weston being sick, I was quite under the weather the first few days she was here and wasn't on the top of my photographing skills.)

Oh, wait, I do have another photo of Grandma Stolee and her other grandchild in our household--KJ made sure to snuggle and sit on Grandma's lap as often as possible too!

Our night away was to celebrate my "Other Mother" being named the 58th Queen of the Krewe of Billy Bowlegs, a local Ft. Walton Beach organization.  We loved being there to celebrate with the Chalkers!

And, I loved being able to catch up with Holly, too!

With the Queen!  Note that Andrew is in his Mess Dress uniform, and at the ball he must have had 4 or 5 retired pilots come up to him and want to discuss flying!  I joke that he was the Belle of the Ball because he was SO popular with all those guys.  He did hear some fantastic stories and enjoyed it.

Dad and baby feet enjoying the sand in Destin.

Karen and I enjoying some fun in the sun--she's a trooper being out there for a bit at 8.5 months preggo!  

Saturday evening sunset light---ahh, he's angelic, isn't he?  :)

Happily entertained by mom!

The beautiful sunset that we just HAD to watch.

I think that life's pretty good with these two!  

Father's Day golfing!

Weston's first golf outing--many more in his future, Andrew hopes!

Weston and I holding down the cart while Andrew golfs!

Happy June!

June is here!  We had a great first three days of June and have so many pictures to share that they deserve an earlier than usual blog post!  My dear friend Ann made the trek from Birmingham with her two adorable boys and we got to spend some fun (mostly wet) time with them.  They arrived on Wednesday and we immediately had to go see the ocean for Jake.  The ocean was great but he couldn't get enough of the water (per the water hose pictures) and then the next day when we decided to take the boys out for a walk, it rained like crazy on us.  Not a single soul (KJ included) was dry--the boys didn't seem to mind and so we just enjoyed it.  That evening, Andrew, Weston, KJ and I took a walk down to the beach and enjoyed the sunset--might have been one of my favorite ways to welcome a month--and then the weekend included more time with the Dunbars and a Sunday treat of making our way to Seaside.  Enjoy the photos!

Ann and her sweet boys at the ocean!

Jake loving some hose time--it kept him busy and I am sure he would have continued for hours if we let him.

Our Friday morning walk that turned into a run as fast as you can back to the house!

Weston enjoying the first sunset of June.

Far in the distance you can see Andrew and KJ running down the beach.

Family photo on the beach.

Andrew and me.

Andrew snapped this photo of Weston and I as we were loading pictures and he thought it would make Weston's Uncle Derrick proud to see Weston so into the computer.

Our Saturday morning run gave Weston an excuse to look extra cool in his shades!

The pure joy on Jake's face as he enjoyed a see-saw for the first time!

Look Mom!  I can balance a dog on my head!

Weston, the dog tail catcher!

Trying to get a shot of all the boys--I thought this one showed the difficulty of the situation. :) (It actually looks as though Weston was really into Jake's hair--maybe that's because he has more than Weston's dad!)

Ann's dad captured a pretty good one of the three of us.

Here are the kids with our own kids--it feels like just the other day that Ann was saving me from being the new kid without friends on my first day at a new school in 6th grade!  

Ahh, Bud & Alley's...a lovely place to be on a Sunday afternoon!

Can't beat this view!

Can't beat this company!