Florida Living...and, yep, the life is pretty easy.

Okay, so life is probably a bit easier for Weston and I, but I would say that the fact that Andrew finished his studies early and came home in time for us to romp on the beach this evening makes life pretty good for all of us!
Andrew started his course on Monday and we were able to meet up with new and old friends from his class that night for dinner.  We both had a blackened grouper sandwich and knew that we were back on the Gulf Coast--Mmmm!  I must say that it is quite nice being back and makes me realize how much this area was a part of the past for Andrew and I but also so much of my childhood through adulthood; I can only hope that Weston gets to enjoy this area throughout his life so there are certainly no complaints here about the military forcing Andrew to do some training!  :)
The highlight to this first week has been that Weston got to meet Nonny.  It was such a wonderful moment as Nonny means so much to Andrew and I and will certainly to Weston as well as he gets older.  I know that my Papaw would have loved to have been here to share in the meeting but I know that Weston's pretty lucky to have the expert of all experts on all things Papaw and for sure he was watching and enjoying Nonny love on Weston.
Other than arriving and getting settled Weston and I have run the neighborhood a few times, walked the beach with KJ and just made a list of what we want to explore.  We look forward to sharing many more pictures from our time here but for now, we will share our first week!
Enjoy!

Nonny snuggling up on Weston--he loved it and relaxed so much that he fell asleep!

See?!?  He's looking so intently up at her!  

Weston was having a laugh at us as we danced around the living room while he tried out his beach hat.

Weston fell asleep on the walk to the beach so dad was trying to wake him back up.

Weston heard that it was very vogue to go for pony rides on the beach--KJ thought he was crazy!

KJ enjoying the view.

KJ hanging with Weston and I.

Baby at the beach.

KJ wanted a photo shoot--such a camera hog!

Traveling to Florida

As we packed our car and trailer a little over a week ago, we felt like packrats, but traveling with a 3 month old who will cross the 6 month mark while we are gone seemed like a daunting task to pack lightly for....oh and of course, we have that dog too!
I swear that I only packed 1/3 of my closet and Andrew only brought half of his so where did we get all of this stuff?  :)  It's amazing how easy it is to fill a trailer when you have the space!
At any rate, we made the trip and it was quite successful considering we had a 3 month old baby and an 8 month old puppy.  We made the trip in 3.5 days and really only stopped twice each day for Weston.  He did great and even let me entertain him from his carseat each day!  KJ did great as well--she got her energy out at our 2nd and 4th night stops!  Thank you Kirks and Senechals for providing entertainment for our dog! :)  We went from Vegas to Albuquerque, to Wichita Falls, Texas, to Jackson, Mississippi and then spent a night in Niceville, Florida before arriving at our rental house in St. Joe Beach on Sunday. It was definitely a longer trip time wise than Andrew and I would have done sans Weston, but it was a great way to do it!  Let's hope that the route back in a few months goes as smoothly!
Here are some photos from our packing and adventure:

Here's Andrew fitting it all in the trailer.  To be fair, we did leave quite a bit of space for the dog in the back--sort of!  :)

KJ a little early on the car sitting--this was about 8 hours before we took off; she was just making sure we remembered her!

Our stop in Wichita Falls meant that Weston made new friends!  Here's Emma playing with Weston.  Sort of funny that I remember Emma when she was just a little bigger than Weston!  Where does the time go?

Remember what I said about the kids wearing KJ out?  Well, they also wore out my husband!  

What's wrong with a baby AND a cute puppy curled up on a bed at the Jackson, MS Hilton?  Nothing!  

This was a pretty special detour for me in Mobile, Alabama. This is a picture of Weston and I in front of my first Christmas tree that my parents planted in front of the house that I was born in. I guess I am glad that I haven't grown as tall and wide as the tree, but pretty impressive to see how we have both grown!  :)  

Sleeping Positions

Sleeping on a long car trip can be interesting as you may know. As an only child, I must admit that I have realized that I was spoiled with my options, but watching KJ make the most of the choices she was given has been interesting on this car trip. Before you view her positions, please know that we had actually reserved most of the way back of the car for her but she just had to be within petting distance of us so she got creative! Enjoy!

A random find

Found this photo from last week on my phone. It as though we interrupted a napping session in our bed. KJ seems to be surprised to find that we find both of them in our bed a photo worthy moment:

Andrew's F-15 Fini Flight

Today was Andrew's last flight in the F-15 Eagle and he had a great day and I think enjoyed it.  I overheard him say that he only cried for the first 10 minutes and then decided just to have some fun while it lasted!  Okay, maybe I made that up, but I do think that Andrew will miss the jet (his other wife, maybe even his first one if I am honest with myself as he did "meet" her first) and we will both miss the wonderful community.  We do know, though, that the F-22 community will be just as wonderful and we are looking forward to what lies ahead of us.  We are happy to be staying here in Vegas for another 3 years and watching Weston grow as Andrew learns his 3rd wife--finally, I came before this jet--the F-22!  :)  Here are some photos (thanks to our photographer, Hope):

Weston and I waiting for Andrew to taxi in...notice the ear protectors that are sticking up from W's head.

Here comes Andrew.

Last time we will be seeing him sitting in that spot.

Dutiful wife and baby wait patiently.

The traditional spray down--was a little difficult to join in this time with a baby attached to me.

Andrew will take that...

Some of the 422 fellows--oh and Ripper, too!  :)

Andrew's flying buddies for the day--Schlem and Hoss.

Drowning his sorrows?!?

Scott "Schlem" Prom is also leaving the Eagle community and heading to the Duluth Guard to fly F-16s, kind of nice that two Minnesota boys got to enjoy their last Eagle ride together!

Weston very proud of his dad--he's even sporting a onesie that says "Daddy's Little Wingman" and has an image from Top Gun (yes, I realize Top Gun was about the Navy...)

Family shot--it was a bit windy.

Squished face all the way--check out that triple chin!

Weston is 3 Months Old!

It's crazy to think that a quarter of a year has passed and that Weston has been part of our lives that long.  Our groundhog day of going back and forth to the hospital for 25 days seems like forever ago and yet it also seems not that long ago either!
We are so proud of our little man and the growth that he is making:
He is almost 11 lbs (per our Friday weigh ins).
He is outgrowing some 3 month clothes in length.
He is knocking things with his hands and sometimes feet.
He smiles and loves to hang out naked on the changing the table.
He can sleep for 6-7 hour stretches at night (hallelujah).
He is happiest in the morning and right after he eats.
His spit ups are becoming less and less.
He's a great snuggler and even hugs our necks with his little arms (at least we tell ourselves that's what he's doing)!  :)

Here's some photos of our little guy marking his 3 month birthday!

Weston was smiling at GG off to the side--he's got a cute little crooked smile.

One of the recent discoveries--his hands!  

Still working on the sitting thing, but he sure is sticking that belly out!  

Weston was showing off his guns here, even in his sleep!

Weston's First Easter AND GG's Visit

Even though my mom, GG, had technically met Weston the weekend after he was born, this visit felt much more real as we were home and Weston wasn't hooked up to machines and/or stuck under lights for any part of her visit; this time GG got to hug and love on Weston as much as she wanted.  And, very exciting for all of us was that Weston sort of began to come into his little personality and really smiling and interacting with us!  We know he has smiled before but we weren't convinced it wasn't due to gas! :)

Weston also had his first experience of being tortured by GG and me as we forced him to shop most of Friday with us but he didn't do too bad and even posed on a leopard print couch (photo below)!

Easter was very low key for us this year as our original plans fell through due to an illness (not ours), so we just made the best of it and enjoyed a delicious meal of Cafe Rio and some hot tub time!  Weston even enjoyed a little hot tub prior to it getting really heated.  We think he will be very ready for the Gulf of Mexico as it heats up to bath water temperature!  

Beyond the activities, Weston decided to throw us for a loop with his eating but in the end the switch has benefited us all.  About three weeks ago we decided to see if Weston would take breast milk from the actual breast (I had been pumping and he was getting breast milk but it was all from bottles as he was too "weak" to take to the breast while in NICU) and surprisingly he did, or so we thought.  He was seemingly eating from the breast and even when we offered him a bottle the first few days after each feed, he didn't want it so we thought he was satiating himself.  Guess not, as I started to lose the wonderful supply that my body had built up with my dear friend the breast pump and thus we turned to formula (I could have rebuilt up my supply but mentally I thought I might lose my mind having to go back to the pump for 4-6 hours a day).  We switched him to formula at the rate of about a new feeding every two days.  Well, after the first formula bottle, we had this VERY happy kid who was content to play by himself and actually laugh/giggle at us--it was amazing and as we introduced more feeds of formula, it just continued.  We were shocked and pleasantly surprised.  It was a difficult process for me mentally but now that I have had this happy baby, it feels right in a lot of ways (I would still rather have a happy, breast fed baby over a formula baby but I guess I can't get EVERYTHING I want).  I hope to upload a video (hint, hint Andrew) of Weston smiling and cooing so that all of you out there in Blogland can see but at any rate, this baby is melting our hearts even more with his happiness!

Enjoy the pictures from the past weekend!

Who says boys can't love shopping and look stylin?  (Andrew is probably cringing as he reads this.)

Going for the Easter photo shoot- we were attempting to catch him happy--uh, we missed the mark on this one.  He was a bit hungry, but he sure did look cute even with an angry face!

Ahh, much happier with his plug!

Post food, satisfaction!  He does pretty good in the Bumbo--needs help with the forward head motion.

Giving that serious, mature look.

Snuggling with dad.

Posing with mom--can't you see him saying "Ahh, Mom..."

Hanging out in the hot tub with mom and GG.

Enjoying a good Summer Shandy in honor of Mr. Tim!  Cheers!

Dad and Weston relaxing.

Family photo.

Ohh Dad, not a zerbit.

GG and her grandson--she fell a bit in love with him on this visit!

Weston hopes everyone had a great Easter and "Rock On!"