Life's a BEACH!!!

Last week, we took our first family vacay to the beach.  Here's the day by day play by play.......

Saturday-We pile into the car (Bobby, me, Tanner, Brennan, and my cousin, Lizzy).  We drive 7 hours and arrive in Kitty Hawk, NC.  The car ride was a major success!  We had one short stop for me to pee (of course) and one longer stop for lunch.  Brennan started getting a little fussy as we were almost there just because he needed to eat.  I'm thinking "wow, this is gonna be an easy vacay!"  We decide to go check out the ocean (at this point, it's about 7 pm, so we aren't going to swim, just going to see the beach).  Tanner was a little hesitant at first about the waves, but he warmed up after a bit.  He liked digging in the sand with his shovel.  We walked down there (big mistake-Tanner kept stopping to dig in the dirt on the walk and it took forever).  Bobby was wearing Brennan in the carrier and it was quite windy, so he had to walk along and couldn't help wrangle Tanner.  Finally, we get back to our house and feed the kids and get them down for bed.  Then Bobby and I went out to get groceries, or so I thought.  Bobby surprised me and took me out for dinner and drinks at the Outer Banks Brewery, it was DELISH!!  We did end up going grocery shopping after that, which is a lot more fun when you've had a glass of wine!  :)

Sunday-Brennan is up at 6 am, which was the average the whole week.  Plus, his naps were only 10-15 mins the whole week.  Bad combo which resulted in lots of crying!  When you are used to getting up at 8, the 6 am wake up is not pleasant!  So we eat breakfast and pack up for the beach.  We pitched a cabana for Brennan, so he was covered from the sun and wind.  While Bobby and Lizzy were doing that, Tanner and I got our feet in the water.  It was COOOOOOOOLD!!  But Tanner loved it, he was ready to go in deeper.  This made me very nervous because I am not a good swimmer at all.  I still have to hold my nose to go underwater.  Needless to say, Bobby will be teaching the boys how to swim.  Then Bobby took over and took Tanner out, he loved it, and didn't want to get out.  I sat with Brennan, he napped for a bit, then I fed him, and we played in the cabana.  Then it was time to go back to the for lunch and naps.  We leave, with Tanner having a fit and Mommy starting to get stressed.  Then back  at the house, I bathe Brennan and Tanner in the bathtub quickly, so we can get lunch going.  While making the mac and cheese, Brennan is screaming because he needs to nap and refuses to, Bobby is outside with Tanner grilling the hot dogs and Lizzy is in the shower.  So I am left listening to a screaming baby for 15 mins.  Bobby comes in with the hot dogs, and I have a meltdown.  After lunch, I take a nap, and feel better.  I realized that I just need to go with the flow.  Things are harder when you are not at your house, in your routine, but at the same time, you are making memories with your family (and that's what matters).  After nap, we try to go to the Dunes.  Notice, I said try.......well now it was time for Tanner's meltdown.  We get to the Dunes, and I decide not to try to climb them with Brennan in the Moby, so Lizzy, Bobby, and Tanner walk on.  They didn't get far....Tanner started screaming "water, water" over and over.  We thought he was thirsty, no not it.  I guess he expected to see the ocean again, but there were only dunes.  He was not happy about it.  So we left.

Monday-Bobby took Tanner back to the Dunes and he great, they went all the way up and there were no meltdowns!  YAY!  Bobby and I went out for drinks that night after the kids went to bed, like old times! ;)

Tuesday-Bobby and Lizzy took Tanner down to the beach while Brennan and I stayed at the house.  This was much more relaxing for me.  I gave Brennan his bottles on the deck and swung him to sleep in the swing under the deck.  Ahhhhhh....now this is a vacation.

Wednesday-Bobby toured the stores at the beach, and Lizzy, the boys, and I went to a gift shop to look around.  Tanner, again, had a total meltdown.  He screamed the whole time in the store because I would not let him out of the stroller.  :/  On the upside, he took a 3 hour nap that day.  Then my Uncle Pete and Aunt Tina joined us!  That night, we grilled some yummy steaks and drank sweet wine!  The gals walked down to the beach to see the moon shining on the water, and saw some big a** holes-hehe!!  Fun times!!!

Thursday-We went out for a tasty breakfast, then all headed out to the beach.  Tanner again loved it!  Bobby and I even took him out together into the deep water and that was really fun!  Brennan took his best nap of the week (about 25 mins) in the cabana.  That night, I took Lizzy out to eat a really good Italian restaurant.  We had so much fun eating and having girl talk!

Friday- We decide to go up to Corolla where the wild horses are.  I saw a commercial that said if you have 4 wheel drive, you can drive on the beach.  Sounds fun, until you get stuck!  Uhhhh...yeah.  Instead of paying to take a Jeep tour to see the horses, we tried to follow where they were going (up a dune).  Bad idea.  We did not make it, not even close!  So as Bobby is pushing us, I am pressing the gas, Tanner is having yet another meltdown!  Finally a chick comes to help Bobby and we get unstuck.  Then we say, forget it, let's just go.  As we are leaving, we see some horses!  YAY-success!!!!!  We decided to leave that night to come home instead of driving all day Sat.  So we nap (Tanner) and pack up.  We headed out around 5:30 pm, stopped for dinner at 8, and got home by 12:30.  The first part of the ride was pretty awful, with Tanner crying to get out and hitting and pinching Lizzy.  The last part was good and went by fast with and epic game of "Top Three."

Our first family vacation sure had its ups and downs, but in the end, we got some wonderful memories, and what more can you ask for!  :)  I will try to add some pics-no promises!

Finally getting the swing of things!

This week, for the first time since Brennan was born, I feel like I have a handle on things.  First off, Brennan is starting to get into a more predictable routine (YAY).  He has always been a great sleeper at night, but during the day, his naps became only 15-20 mins at a time, which is not a restorative sleep.  So, I tried to sleep train him, by using the book "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child."  I bought this book to help with Tanner's naps when he was 5 months old.  Tanner was soooooooo hard to get to sleep during the day.  I would rock him for 30 mins only to have him sleep for 20.  So.....I bought the book and followed the "cry it out" technique for naps.  It work, and Tanner has been a champion sleeper ever since!  Naturally, I thought Mr. Brennan would take to it as easily as Tanner.  Well......I was wrong.  In the book, it says to do whatever routine you choose for naps, be consistent, then lay them down in their cribs to sleep.  They should sleep for an hour, ideally.  If not, you can let them try to "cry it out" and get to sleep (or back to sleep) for an hour.  So I tried it with Brennan.  It did not go well.  He cried so hard for the entire hour, which broke my heart to hear.  :(  After a few days of doing it this way, it was still not getting much better. Then I tried to go in after he woke up (15 mins after laying in crib) and give him his paci.  No picking him up, no eye contact.  It worked!  He went back to sleep for 30 mins!!  I did it again, and he went back to sleep for another 30 mins!  Then today, his naps have been 45-60 mins each!  Hooray!!!  :)
Since he has been napping longer, I have been able to get more done.  I cleaned the whole kitchen this week.  And I mean CLEANED!! I scrubbed the baseboards, washed the walls, and dusted the laundry room.  Go me!!!  I have also given in to the fact that Brennan may be my last baby and is my baby now so, I may as well enjoy this time instead of hoping for the next phase to come.  So I have decided that I am going to wear him more.  I am still getting the hang of the Moby, but so far, I really like it.  I like having him so close to me, he likes it, and I have my hands free!  I have not taken the boys shopping by myself yet.  With Tanner sitting in the front of the cart, and Brennan's car seat in the back part, there is no more room for the stuff I am buying!  So, I put Brennan in the Moby and Tanner in the cart and headed to my fav. store-Target!!  It went great!  I got many smiles from others moms and an older man commented on "my contraption."  Hehe!!
Mr. Tanner finished school last week.  On the last day, his class had an awards ceremony where all of the students got recognized for something.  Tanner got "Most Athletic"  (Bobby was so proud)  His teacher said he is always throwing or rolling a ball!  He misses school already, every morning he says "School, yeah, school, yeah."  I am so glad that we decided to sign him up for preschool, he has really blossomed.  It is really fun driving around with him now.  He is obsessed with anything with wheels.  He loves to point out lawnmowers, airplanes, motorcycles, etc.  He has also started to notice landmarks, like the big baseball at the Knights Stadium.  Now whenever I say we are going in the car, he says "biiiiiiiig bawl,"  hoping to see the baseball.  He has also become quite the singer.  He loves to sing "Baa baa black sheep, Itsy Bitsy Spider, The Wheels on the Bus, the Elmo song (kill me), and random ones that he makes up that have Mommy, Daddy, Deeeeedeeee, and monmowers (lawnmowers).  Memorial day was also Papa's (Bobby's dad) birthday, so we went to High Point to surprise him.  Bobby took Tanner in the pool and he took to it right away.  He has always liked baths and the water, but this was the first time that he could really "swim" with the floaties on.  He was booking it and loved to jump in from the side and even the diving board a few times.  What a daredevil.  :/  Mommy's not too happy about that one!
Next week, I get all four of my wisdom teeth taken out, again, I'm not too happy about that!  Wish me luck.  Then, on Saturday, we take our first family trip to the beach!!!!!  We have never taken Tanner and I am excited to go.  We are also taking our nanny (my little cousin) with us!  I will blog about our epic beach adventure later!  :)