Catching up...

We returned from a family vacation last weekend. (For some reason it has taken me over a week to write this post!)

We took the same trip with my family last year taking Hawkins and there was not a doubt we would take him again. It always seems like such a good idea. "He will love the beach and the pool. There will be plenty of family there to help watch him. Surely he will sleep on the plane."

I laugh at myself thinking those things.

After the plane flights and the week of chasing him around a un-childproof home, I have decided I will never travel by air again with my child(ren) until they are over the age of 10. Enough said.

Our little family is going through some serious detox this week. I miss someone cooking for me and doing my laundry and Hawkins misses someone holding him 24/7 and seeing his Daddy during the day. He is still crying every single time we put him down at night or for a nap. He does eventually fall asleep, but makes sure to cry really hard first.

He woke up sick today to top thing off.

I am still washing clothes and trying to get back to normal. Thank goodness for Hawkins' school! He loves every second and I do too!

We made some great memories and I am so grateful for the vacation, but I am so glad to be home :)

Here are some pictures to recap our week:

Hawkins has never taken a paci, so when I find old ones around our house I think it's hilarious that he pops them in his mouth!

Here is my sweet angel on Saturday morning. Daddy went duck hunting, so we had a Mommy/Hawkins morning in the bed watching Mickey Mouse.

His teacher sent me this picture from the school playground. He was pointing to birds in the sky!

With is new truck his Grandmama and Grandpa brought him - he loves it!

Punta Cana 2012

Our little family of 3 was lucky enough to accompany my family again to Punta Cana this year! We went last year for my Mom's birthday and decided to go again and even stay longer this time...a whole week!

It was a last minute trip and was perfect timing with all we had gone through in 2011. Robbie has never taken that much time off work, but he needed it.

I went into a frenzy trying to pack up our Christmas stuff and get out our bathing suits, but we were so happy to get there and relax! The weather was amazing and the house is so wonderful. Friends of our family own the house and allow us to use it while they are not there. They have a full staff that cooks and cleans, which truly makes it a vacation!

Hawkins must have been excited about the trip b/c he woke up at 4:30am the morning we left and never went back to sleep :( Then he slept in the car the whole way to the airport taking away any chances for him sleeping on the plane! My great plan with Benadyl did not work!

He was a sweet boy though and it was not too bad. Here is Daddy and Hawkins drinking coffee and milk watching Mickey Mouse on the ipad:

The weather was around 80 degrees there and we ate outside for every meal. Here is Hawkins eating his supper on the top balcony.

My brother and sister in law were not able to come - boo! We missed them and sweet Fleming! My best friend Sarah came along with my sister and parents.

Our drink of choice - home made lime daiquiris!

Hawkins and his Honey

He loves "This little piggy"...

We had a different table setting every night!

Mommy and Hawkins

Hawkins even had a playmate - John! They are only 6 months apart.

They loved playing trucks together.

The men smoking cigars

Hawkins and Aunt Nina

My sweet big boy

He loved playtime in the pool with his Daddy

The staff could not believe how much he had grown from last year!

"hot!"

"Peek-a-boo"

My Honey really makes me laugh!

He loves to put on our shoes and walk around

Hawkins with Rosa (John's Mom)

The Girls - Sarah, Frances and Virginia

(daiquiris in hand!)

Hawkins with his Honey and Big Daddy

My Aunt Say-Say loves me!

The flight home was rough...really rough. It was delayed and we didn't land in Atlanta until 11pm. This little guy was tired!

Here is what got us though the first hour on the plane....Wendy's chicken nuggets and fries!

Prayers for the new year

I am not "into" New Year's resolutions. It is always the same every year - lose weight, workout more, be nicer, eat healthier, branch out more etc...and by week 2 we have all forgotten about it anyway.

This year I wanted to share some of my prayers for my family and myself for the new year.

For Hawkins:

-I am praying for his health. I pray he continues to learn and grow according to schedule and stays my healthy happy baby boy.

-I am praying for his attitude. He is starting to throw some tantrums and has hit some children at the Y, so I pray he stays as sweet as I know he can be.

-I am praying he starts learning right from wrong.

-I am praying for his eating habits. He has always been the pickiest eater, so I pray as he gets older he eats a bigger variety of food - healthy food!

-I am praying for his friends - current and future. Honestly, he does not have that many friends right now, so I pray the Lord brings him cute fun friends to play with as a child. More so, I pray for his future friends as he gets older - ones that are a good influences.

-Currently, I am praying for his sleep. He is getting 2 more teeth and they are keeping us both up at night!

For myself:

-I am praying for patience. I get frustrated very easily with the every day life with a toddler and I don't want to do that. I want to enjoy every day with my child and just be in the moment.

-I am praying to be a good wife - to listen to my husband when he gets home from work and cook him home cooked meals every night.

-I am praying to be healthier. Ok ok, I know is one of the popular resolutions, but I have really let my health slide recently. I need to eat better!

-I am praying for our future children.

-I am praying for my attitude. I pray to be more gratful and less jealous.

-I am praying for my anxiety. I get so uptight about things that it ruins events for myself and others. I need to just chill out and relax about Hawkins' schedule.

17 months

Hawkins,

Wow, your 16th month totally flew by and we accidentally skipped that post. Here we are at 17 months, and I am in awe of your accomplishments. You are like a sponge soaking up every word and action that you see. You are very aware of your surroundings and notice even the smallest things. Every Mother says this, but you are the smartest little boy. We are so proud of you.

*I have been wanting to post these pictures from Hawkins 15 month photo shoot so get ready for picture overload!*

You.never.stop.moving. Ever. You wake up ready to play and run around. You even squirm and move around a lot in your sleep.

*My3 favorite boys below*

So many people love you, Hawkins. You are my whole world and every second of my life revolves around you. I would not have it any other way. Recently your Daddy took you for an over night trip so that I could have some time alone and I literally didn't know what to do with my 24 hours to myself. I was looking so forward to it, but I think I called every 20 minutes for an update of what y'all were doing!

Words you are saying:

Hey

Baby

Mommy or Mama

Dada

HuNeeeee = Honey

Daddeee = Big Daddy

Mi-Ming = Fleming

Yay-Gee = Lady

Bo Bo = Beau

Me = Please

Da Du = Thank you

Ho Ho = Santa

Moo = Moon

ba = ball

bir = bird

dar-dar = cracker

mana = banana

What the cow says = "Ma"

What the sheep says = "Ba"

What the horse says = "Neigh"

What the duck says = "Dack Dack"

-He can point to your nose, eyes, ears, mouth, teeth, hair, feet, and belly button

-You can blow a kiss or give a kiss. You love to give hugs.

-You think fake sneezing is really funny.

-You love to ride in the race car grocery cart at Publix.

-You love all dogs and especially our Lady and Bo Bo. Lady runs away from you, but Beau lets you roll all over him and pet him. He is your best friend.

-I always go to the door and call Lady b/c she never wants to go outside. Now if we go to the door and Beau goes out Hawkins turns around and yells "Yay-Gee". It is the cutest thing!

-You are a little monkey who loves to climb - the stairs, onto chairs, whatever!

-You can go up steps now like a pro (holding onto the rail).

-You love to read and look at books. We sit in your rocker and read after naps and you always go take them off your book shelf and sit down and look at them yourself. Your new favorite book is "Brown Bear".

-You look up at the sky when a bird or airplane flies over and point. You love to go outside at night and find the moon.

-I ask you before naps and bedtime if you are ready to go night night. You start waving bye-bye and walk to your room. So sweet.

-You sleep from 7:30pm until around 7am and take one nap at 12:30pm usually for 2 hours. You have been sleeping better and better - sometimes until 7:30 or later in the mornings and maybe 2.5 hours in the afternoon. NOT always though.

-You wear 18 month clothes and a size 5 diaper. I have just a couple of outfits that are 24 months.

-You are getting better about eating, but not great. I started giving you "Ella's Kitchen" baby food pouches and you love them. You can feed them to yourself by squeezing it into your mouth.

-Breakfast: waffle, banana, yogurt, a pouch of fruit. Lunch: grilled cheese, banana, pouch of fruit/veggie, puffs. Dinner: chicken nuggets, pouch of veggie, yogurt, some other item like tator tots or a sweet potato

-I just gave you peanut butter for the first time and you have had no bad reactions! You love the mini PB ritz crackers, but are not sure about a PBJ yet.

-For snacks you love apples, graham goldfish, yogurt melts, puffs, or nilla wafers.

-Your Daddy taught you to drink out of a straw! Now you have a few sippy cups with straws and you look like such a big boy drinking out of them.

-You drink a sippy cup of whole milk in the morning, afternoon, and night and a 1/2 a cup at naptime.

-You still LOVE bath time. We watch your animal Baby Einstein video after your supper and then ask you if you want to take a bath. You scream "ba ba ba" and run towards your bathroom. Precious.

-You go to either school or the Y every day and you really love it. You rarely cry when I drop you off - most times you wave bye-bye to me!

-You love your cousin Fleming!

The holidays are over and we are getting back to our regular schedule. We both love a break from our regular schedule, but it is always nice to get back home and back to the routine. I love this age and I love you!

Christmas recap

No one has known the true joy and meaning of Christmas until you have had a child of your own. This year was so much fun b/c Hawkins was so interactive and soaked in all the fun of Christmas. Of course he does not understand Santa or Jesus, but he got to learn about them.

He loved every detail from the lights on the tree to toy Santas to opening gifts to being spoiled by family. Every time we lit the tree he gasped in delight. You can't help but be happy and feel blessed when you are around this smiling child.

We had a very busy December going back and forth to Atlanta and South Carolina visiting Bryan and going to 2 funerals in Robbie's family. Along the way Hawkins and I spend 10 days in Americus and he loved every second. My parents also kept him as Robbie and I traveled and he didn't miss us at all :)

You can see my Dad in his robe right by Hawkins' side. They are best buddies.

We were able to stay put for several day around Christmas and it was so wonderful. I love being with family and soaking in every moment.

Hawkins with all the girls

Our family of three on Christmas Eve

We went to an afternoon service of church and then to the annual party at the Jones'. We love it b/c it is children friendly! Hawkins ran around like crazy and stayed up late.

He opened a couple of gifts on Christmas Eve and loved his new wind-up tractor

Santa displayed his gifts in the room with the Christmas tree and Robbie led him in to see...

He was a little overwhelmed, but loved playing with all the gifts.

I just love this little face. So serious.

Before Christmas lunch

Hawkins loves his Aunt Nina

Virginia, Hawkins and me with Dee

He could get in and out of these chairs with ease and this was his favorite seat in the house. He sat and stared at the tree as he pulled ornaments off :)

His favorite toy was this tractor from the dollar store!

Sweet boy

He went down for a nap and we were able to enjoy a delicious lunch

Honey always creates the most beautiful centerpieces

Crisp, Katie and Fleming came for lunch and spent the rest of the afternoon and night. After Hawkins' short nap he got to open more presents!

They gave him a new stuffed dog! He loved it, but our puppies did not!

I could just eat him up.

Matching PJs!