In her element

I love this pic of Ry ready to head down to the beach with her net! 

She is in her element!!

(one of my) Favorite Place(s) on Earth

 Ok, so I am so non commital. Is that even a word? I'm sure there are other places that are great, but this is what I know and love...

 Anyway, I love Saint Simons Island. Beautiful. Relaxing. Life is s.l.o.w. Good eats. Sunshine. Family. 

 

Mom and Mimi enjoying the sunset

SSI

While we were in the States we spent a little bit of time at my mom's beach house in Saint Simons Island. One of my most favorite places on earth......... 

 

Knox spent a lot of time here........

 

Rylie stayed like this most of the time.....

 unless she was here......

 

and thank goodness Knox liked to do this because Rylie wanted to stay at the pool all.day.long. I think she is part beach bum---she might get that from me :)

 

practicing her letters in the sand

 

my friend and FABULOUS photographer Becky came down for an afternoon (pics from her fabulous session coming soon!) and Rylie LOVED playing with her oldest son Connor. He was so sweet to her and she cried when he left. I think she had a little bit of a crush :)

 

rylie also loved making new friends!

 

hanging with the big girls :)

Cousin Sleepover!

 

 One of the first things Rylie got to do when we got to my mom's house was have a super fun sleepover with her cousin Maddie. It started with dinner at Burger King (Rylie's favorite place to eat because she loves the playground!) and then we headed back to Nai Nai's house for a fun bubble bath!

 

then Nai Nai painted fingers and toes....

 

and the girls had matching Cinderella pajamas :)

 

they watched a little show in bed (what a treat!) before bed and then slept great! 

So thankful for their friendship and hope it continues for a long time!

"quick" trip to the states.....

 

Mimi meeting Knox--her 7th grandchild!

Rylie, Knox, and I took a "quick" (36 hours of traveling) trip back to the States to see my grandmother Mimi. She didn't get to meet Knox when we were there when he was born because she had pneumonia and some heart issues. But she is doing MUCH better now and came down to Atlanta to see my mom. We flew home and surprised her (and my sister!). It was SO great to see her and I am so thankful Knox got to meet her!

We also grabbed a too-quick lunch with Aunt Andi, Uncle Scotty, and Logan. 

Knox loved getting some Aunt Andi snuggles!

Mothers Day!

Loved celebrating Mothers Day with these 4 sweet blessings!!

Saying Good-bye

 

So one of the not-so-fun things about living the life we do, is the constant transitioning. This includes saying good-bye a lot. Either you are leaving or someone else is leaving you. This week we said "see you soon" to a fun family that lived in our neighborhood. Their little boy Collin was a great friend to our big boys and Jackie was a sweetheart to Rylie--even though she was several years older. Rylie loved having a "big girl"to play with!

We are so thankful God brought the Hicks here and can't wait to hear what He has in store for them next!

 

The neighborhood boys getting one last playtime in. They literally played up until the last minute they could!

 

Rylie and Jackie

4 months

 

Sweet boy!

You are four months! 

You love to take baths

you are a great nurser

you sleep like a champ at night and are getting the hang of naps :)

you love your gray little blankie

you fall asleep with a paci but thankfully don't need it during the night

your siblings STILL fight over holding you

you enjoy playing on your playmat and reaching up to all the toys

you are rolling from stomach to back ALL the time now 

you aren't a huge fan of tummy time :)

you can roll from back to stomach but aren't sure why you would want to!

such a sweet, sweet smiley boy! 

Who do you think he looks like??

March instagrams

 

cute little bunny

 

one of my favorite pictures--Rylie lining her dolls up.....

 apples and a lollipop

 

reading with aiyi

 

loves her baby brother....he's still not so sure...

 

three princess friends

 

lunch at our favorite! The corner!

 

weather in march warm enough to grill?!? We will take it!!

Easter Morning!

Easter Egg Hunt

The Saturday before Easter we had a fun Easter Egg Hunt with some of the other foreign kids in our city. There were about 25 kids and we split up littles and bigs. The sun was shining--a rarity around here :) and we had a great day!

three of my littles. the littlest slept the entire time....he likes to sleep a lot!

what? doesn't everyone's Easter pictures have a blue construction wall and piles of dirt in the background?? :)

Colorful Eggs

Having fun coloring eggs!

Fun bright colors

Proud of their eggs!

bunny ears

finished product!!!

3 months

 

This sweet smiley boy is three months! 

He is sleeping well--12 hours at night--woo hoo!! So thankful!

he takes 3-4 naps a day--usually around 1 1/2 hours each. 

He smiles a lot these days. At everyone. His siblings L.O.V.E to try to make him smile!

He is rolling from his tummy to his back.

Every morning when I get him, he has scooted down to the bottom of his pack n play during the night.

He likes walks in the stroller, which is good because we walk everywhere :) 

The Ergo carrier is like a sleep chamber for him--as soon as he goes in it he is out. 

Playing on his play mat is one of his favorite activities.

He has started grabbing EVERYTHING. Sister's hair included. Especially his sisters hair. 

He eats every three hours 5 times a day. Like clock work. This boy is serious about his food.

 

He loves to snuggle with his lion lovie and his grey little blanket. 

If he had his way he would sleep with grey blankie covering his face. I've heard I used to sleep like that too.....

Knox is such a laid back, go with the flow little man. Just what our family needed for this time. Isn't God great :)

 

We have also been busy working on his blue steel look........

Air Quality

 

We have had some bad air quality here recently. Like off the charts bad. 

The kids haven't been able to play outside at school, they've been on "red" for air quality. 

We got an air purifier for the house.

Hoping some rain will come and help settle it down. 

There is a lot of construction in our city---think that is part of the problem.

Didn't think I'd see a day where it would be healthier for my kids to watch TV than to play outside.

Fashionista

 

This is what Rylie wanted to wear to go play with her friend the other day. 

 

We then lost the hat and went for a butterfly bike ride around the neighborhood