A Trip to the beach!

In the past eight months everything has changed since Jaiden was born. A trip to the store is no longer quick, a 9pm dinner at a restaurant just doesn't exist without a babysitter and our trips to the beach have become a lot more involved!


The picture above is what my days at the beach consisted of -- a small bag with sunscreen, a beach towel, a book/magazine and possibly a chair or umbrella. How simple is that? Took me less than five minutes to get ready for the beach and another five to walk down and maybe two minutes to 'set up.' I could lay on that towel for hours and then break to the ocean if I got too hot sunbathing. I would come back to the house for lunch or nap on the beach through lunch. Clocks did not belong at the beach, we came back whenever I got too much sun or it was dinnertime. Another two minutes to 'pack up' and I was on my home to shower and relax!

Fast forward one year ....THIS is our 'set up!'

I started thinking about our beach trips all the way back in March!! I purchased a tent so he would be covered from the sun and have a non sandy place to play! In May, we purchased a 'beach' stroller so we could easily wheel him to the beach and one of us would not have to carry him. We can not just wake up and go to the beach whenever we feel like it. It is usually after his first nap of the day around 11am. And this is our beach process:

- dress Jaiden is a new diaper, swim trunks and a rash guard.
- put sunscreen on him.
- pack his bag which consists of: extra diapers, wipes, swim diapers, multiple changes of clothes, 3 bottles, formula, water bottles to mix his formula when we get to the beach, puffs for him and a hat or two for him to wear once we get there!
- dress myself and get my bag together: ONLY a book (which I may or may not get to even take out of the bag anymore!)
- snacks and a water bottle for myself and J.
- pack underneath the stroller: all of his toys, sheet to lay out so he can crawl on it, tent, 3 towels, water bottle for ourselves, sunscreen for all three of us.
- put Jaiden in the stroller and make sure he has two toys with him to play with on our walk down.
- get 2 chairs, Jaiden's 'pool' and the umbrella out of the closet to bring with us as well!

Now that we are packed we grab our chairs and put them over our shoulders and begin our walk to the beach. After trudging our stroller through the thick sand we make it to our 'spot' and begin to set up -- unpacking the chairs, setting up the umbrella and tent, getting towels/sheets put down, getting toys out and then placing Jaiden in the tent!

We sit down for a matter of minutes before Jaiden has escaped the tent and is now heading for the sand. He LOVES to eat it ... and with all our best efforts he has eaten plenty of it!! After chasing him and getting sand out of his mouth we take a walk. On this walk he may or may not take a twenty minute nap, being awake by the time we get back to our spot. He plays with his toys and we continue to keep him from eating all the sand off the beach. Every five or ten minutes we head down to the ocean for him to dip his feet in the water (and to get the sand off of his face!)

Towards the end of the day we put him in a swim diaper and bring our chairs down to the ocean. We sit in the water and Jaiden splashes and waits for all the big waves to come! He is fascinated by the bubbles that the waves make and when the waves go back out. He continues to eat wet sand in between each wave!!

The end of our beach day includes changing him into a non wet/sandy outfit. He goes back in the stroller and we pack up our beach day!! We are fairly quick because we know Jaiden NEEDS a nap!! Another trip through the thick sand and we wash our feet off, 'unsand' everything, bring everything inside, give Jaiden a bottle and put him down for a nap.

So no longer is it a easy, care- free, restful beach day like last summer but one day down at the beach with the two people I love is worth the time and energy that it takes to make it happen!!

Love,
Dada & Mama J

Oh No, A Mobile Baby!

Jaiden trying to climb the stairs, but getting frustrated when he can't keep climbing!

In the short time since moving down the shore Jaiden is becoming more and more active!! The first week we were here he was very content on his jungle mat, just playing with the toucan and starring at the giraffe. A short three weeks later he went from rocking back and forth to the worm and now full on crawling! He is learning to stand when holding onto the furniture. I even found him trying to crawl up the stairs. He is getting into all sorts of trouble with his new found freedom. He is always heading to the brick fireplace, over to the wires near the TV or playing with the blinds!

I count my blessings that I am able to stay home with him and continue to watch him grow and see all of these 'firsts!'

Standing and holding onto the ottoman!

Love,
Dada & Mama J

4th of July Weekend!!

Where do I start?!? This is my absolute favorite holiday and this year was the BEST one yet!! We have the opportunity to spend the whole summer at the beach since I am not working and J can 'work from home.' On Thursday afternoon we packed up the car with boxes, clothes, Jaiden's jumparoo, food, ever toy we own and headed down to Brigantine, NJ.
Julie, Gordon, J, Jaiden and myself spent Friday at the beach, enjoying every bit of the holiday weekend. J, Jaiden and I went for a walk on the beach and J told me that he wanted to go down to the beach tonight for the fireworks, and I agreed! We put Jaiden to bed, ate dinner and J was rushing to get down to the beach to take a walk before the fireworks at 9:30pm. When we got to the beach we sat in a lifeguard stand talking about how fast Jaiden is growing and how amazing our lives are. J wanted to go to the water to take pictures, but I was saving our last bit of battery for when the fireworks started. He then wanted to take sunset pictures, and I was insisting we save the battery! He said he would use his phone, so I went with it. He took a picture of me in the sunset and then I took his phone to take a few myself. As I was fooling with the phone J was behind me and as I turned around he was down on one knee!!!!! He was PROPOSING!! He mentioned how he couldn't imagine his life without me and wanted to be with me forever. He then asked me to marry him!!!! Of course, I said YES, and he got up and we hugged and kissed. After a minute or two he took my hand and put the ring on my finger! It was stunning and I was still in a semi state of shock, having not believed what just happened. We started to walk towards the jetty and the fireworks started a few minutes later!! I couldn't be happier and it couldn't have been any more perfect :)

Jaiden celebrating his first 4th of July!!

We got home and the Spence's and Mantici's were already there ... and Jaiden awake entertaining all of them! The rest of the weekend was celebration after celebration. We spent our days at the beach with the family and our nights celebrating our engagement and the 4th of July. It was such a special weekend and I am sorry that I am so late in sharing the story!

Best 4th of July firework <3

Love,

Dada & Mama J

BIG NEWS!!

Stay tuned for an EXCITING post after the holiday weekend!


Love,
Dada & Mama J

Closer to crawling!

And we're in trouble now!

Jaiden has been getting up on his knees and pushing himself back and forth trying to learn how to crawl! So it is just a matter of time before he is crawling!! Even though he is not crawling, boy can he get around -- from rolling and scooting and pushing ... he can sure make his way around the room!!

What a fun weekend we had; Jaiden spent some time in daycare on Friday night while we worked out! I think he likes being there -- he has his own walker which he walks all over the room! Saturday we went to Miss. Abigail's birthday party and Jaiden got to watch all the big kids bowl! We went straight from there to the beach for the rest of the weekend!! Lots of walks on the beach spending time with Aunt Julie and Uncle Gordon.

He still has a cold, as this sixth tooth is breaking through!! Another few days and we might get a break on the teething!!

This is going to be a busy week as Jaiden and I need to put the finishing touches on our Father's Day surprises and get things together for our summer down the shore!! I am getting internet down the shore so J can work from there so we can spend as much time at the beach as we want!


Love,

Dada & Mama J

SICK Week!!

Not only is Jaiden sick but so am I! And we all know that happens when moms gets sick -- nothing gets done!! I caught the cold that Jaiden has so we spent a lot of time indoors this week trying to rest and get better. Let me rephrase that, Jaiden played no matter how much he coughs or his nose runs. One would never know he is sick by the amount of energy he still has. I on the other hand just feel wiped out, so J has been helping me more in the morning so I can get a little bit more sleep. And I just feel so bad for Jaiden, his two top teeth are cutting through (in addition to the one on the bottom I posted about earlier) so he is congested and in a lot of pain!! It has just thrown off his whole sleeping schedule as well, so he now wakes up every two hours, YAY!

Luckily my cold medicine started working today so we were able to run errands and work on our surprises for Father's Day which is next weekend already!! Honestly, where has this month gone??

We are gearing up for a fun weekend of birthday parties and the beach!!


Love,

Dada & Mama J

ANOTHER Tooth!! And this makes 4!

Jaiden and his two front teeth!

Another runny nose, lots of sneezing and a cough ... we all know what that means!! Jaiden is getting another tooth! It is on the bottom right hand side, to match the one that came in on the left about three weeks ago!! So we are in for a week of sleepless nights and pools of drool!


I am also seeing swollen gums on his top two teeth ... so I'd say we have another month of teething. But who am I kidding, we have another two years of runny noses that results in painful teething!

Trying to make this a GREAT week for my little man so he can forget about his teething pain!


Love,

Dada & Mama J