Mother's Day Camping Trip

This is the third year we've decided to go camping for Mother's Day. The past two years we went to Kirk Creek, a gorgeous campground right on Highway 1, just south of Big Sur. However, while it has amazing views of the ocean, the campsites have virtually no shade and the trail down to the beach is so overgrown with poison oak that its un-passable, and it doesn't have potable water. So, this year we headed to Plaskett Creek, just a little south of Kirk Creek. The sites were larger, with both grassy areas and shade, as well as running, drinkable water! It proved to be a good decision!

We headed up Sunday morning and set up our camp for the next two nights. Sunday was spent setting up camp, playing a few rounds of Qwirkle, and convincing Annaliese that going to bed and falling asleep was a good idea! Yes, she cried/screamed/yelled at us for over an hour before finally falling asleep! Not one of her better moments. 

It got much colder at night than we had expected, so we were all a little chilly (except for Haleigh...I think she actually got too warm) and none of us slept that well. It just confirms my theory that we need to skip the first night-it never goes well!

But Monday turned out to be a beautiful day. After a tasty breakfast, we went on a short walk to see the ocean. 

We returned to the campsite, ate lunch and then attempted to put Annaliese down for a much needed nap. Thankfully, it didn't take too long before she fell asleep. She slept in the pack-n-play and we pulled it out of the tent since the tent was in direct sun all afternoon. It was a near-record-setting nap...over 3 1/2 hours long! Kyle had to keep moving the pack-n-play to keep her out of the sun! The rest of our trip was filled with more Qwirkle, bocce ball, frisbee, and even some relaxing!

 (please note the location of the pack-n-play...it started out right by the tent!)

 Kyle, entertaining himself while Annaliese was sleeping...trying to start a fire:)

I might add that Monday night went much smoother than Sunday night! Annaliese went to bed without much of a fight, woke up once asking for a blanket and Brodie spent most of the night outside! Overall, a much better night for all!! Even with the rough first night, we will definitely take these kiddos camping again!

April Recap

I was looking back through some of my recent pictures and realized that I have quite a few cute pictures from some of the day-to-day stuff that we've done. None of the activities warranted their own post, but the pictures are cute! A lot of them are off of my phone and might not be that great, but I will share them anyways!

Grandma Kelley (aka Mama) ran the SLO Marathon and the route went right down our street. We made a sign, walked down our driveway (Annaliese thought it was pretty neat stuff that we walked through the gate...usually we don't get to walk that close to it!) and cheered on all the runners. And by cheer, I mean actually yelling "cheer, cheer!" Annaliese made lots of people smile...a good thing at mile 17 in a marathon!!

Avila Barn

Steve and Michelle came over from Bakersfield to visit...and meet Haleigh, of course!

 Annaliese's new bike:)

2 Months!

As expected, time is flying by and our little peanut is 2 months old already! I am loving this stage...especially now that she is smiling, cooing and in general, just more responsive to us! She even giggles on occasion!

I know I wasn't really keeping very good track of Annaliese's schedule at this point so I can't compare too much in how our day-to-day activities are looking...but here is a glimpse at 2 month old Haleigh:

Eating: Constantly!! At least that's what it feels like:) I guess I shouldn't complain that she nurses wonderfully...she is pretty efficient at it too! Right now, she typically eats around 6:30, 9:00-9:30, 12:00, 2:30, 5:00, and 7:00-7:30. (I'm sure there are plenty of people who would say that eating only 6 times/24 hrs isn't sufficient but it seems to be working quite well for us!)

Sleeping: Fabulously! She goes down for the night around 8:00, give or take a half hour, and for the past almost 2 weeks, has slept until between 6 and 6:30am! Yes, I have been getting a solid night of sleep recently and it is amazing!! Sometimes we swaddle her, sometimes not- depends on how cold it is supposed to be! During the night, we turn the sound machine on and if she naps in her room,  I turn it on then too. However, her nap schedule during the day is inconsistent at best. I try to have her follow the whole eat, play/be awake, sleep cycle but it's been hard to do. Annaliese doesn't like Haleigh to be asleep so she is constantly waking her up, smothering her with kisses or being obnoxious in other big-sister sorts of ways! As a result, Haleigh often fall asleep sitting in her bouncy seat or in the baby bjorn when we are outside!

Clothes: Everything is either 3 mon or 3-6 month. The newborn items have all been packed away, sadly. Some of them she hardly wore:( And we've been in size 1 diapers for the past month!

Favorite Activities: Bath-time, sucking her thumb...I tried to prevent this but she is determined! Riding in the car, cuddling and being held, listening to music.

Things she doesn't like: Annaliese pulling her pacifier out of her mouth, being hungry and that's about it!! 

Sisters, Sisters!

Annaliese loves being a big sister! She is always watching out for Haleigh, making sure she has a blanket, her pacifier, or telling her "It's okay, Haleigh. It's okay." She loves to give her a goodnight hug and kiss, share her blanket and generally be wherever Haleigh is! This is both good and bad:) But in general, Annaliese has been a big help and it has been fun to watch her embrace this new role!

Still Swimming!

We started up with swimming lessons again a few weeks ago and Annaliese LOVES them! She is always asking to go swimming or to watch swimming...which means looking at pictures or videos of herself in the pool! 

It's a bit different this time around; we only have lessons once a week and I don't get in the water with Annaliese. Although I really enjoyed being in the water, I am also loving getting to watch and photograph her progress! 

Annaliese would sit and watch videos of herself swimming for hours on end if I would let her!!