New "firsts"

My first time driving a car

My first time riding in a wagon

My first train ride

 My first carousel ride

Charlotte

Since Stuart had to coach his CASL team in the semi-finals for the State Cup, we took a family trip to Charlotte to be with him for the weekend.  It was our first get away together as family staying in a hotel.  Stuart's former player hooked us up with a fabulous room and even had a pack-n-play set up waiting for us in the room.  Although it was interesting sharing a room with Leighton, I LOVED having no chores or housework to do.  It was a wonderful get away!  Leighton and Stuart also made my first Mother's Day very special.  So grateful for these fun moments with my family.  Here are some pictures from our trip.

I like to eat, I like to eat...

 Apples and

Pears!

Six Months!

Time sure does fly by!  Here is Leighton on her six month of life.  She is sitting on top of her toy box.  It is Stuart's old toy box from when he was a wee little one.  Stuart refinished it and painted it white with a green "L" on the front for his baby girl.  It only has a few finishing touches (safety hinges and new handles) and it will be complete. 

Mia Dog

Leighton loves her sweet, old Mia dog!  Here she is clowning around with Mia.  Luckily, Mia puts up with Leighton chasing her around and pulling on her fur.  We are working on "pat Mia" and "pat Momma" hoping she will get that fur and hair pulling isn't cool.

Leighton's First Easter

A double ear infection and two teeth breaking through didn't stop Leighton from celebrating her first Easter with her relatives.  After mass, we headed to Snow Camp, NC to visit Leighton's cousin Lisa's new home on a farm.  We enjoyed the holiday outdoors visiting with the Pike family.

Spring Break!

Spring Break with a baby is certainly different. Right before the trip, we purchased Leighton's new Britax convertible car seat.  Of course we wanted her to travel safely so we switched out her seat from her infant carrier.  Installation was not simple.  We finally got the seat level in the car.  Packed to the brim with baby equipment, we finally hit the road.  First stop was Greenville, North Carolina to stay with BB and Pops and drop off Mia.  In her other infant seat, I could easily see her and reach her from the front.  Not in this fancy new seat.  She was unreachable, I couldn't even see her from the front.  Looks like mom would be riding in the back.  Again.  I do not mind riding in the back with her but lately for some reason I had been getting car sick (perhaps husband's driving habits?).  And this time was no exception.  I stayed squeezed in the back between the car seat and a 14 year old husky.

It was there in Greenville that we realized what amateur parents we are.  No baby carrier of any type of was brought amongst the massive amounts of baby stuff we did bring.  We hadn't brought along her Bjorn or Kangaroo Carrier.  Wheeling her around in the soft sand in the BOB was not going to work.  We needed a simple carrier because toting her around is no longer an option.  After five minutes both of our backs feel like they are literally breaking in half.  Awesome job parents.  Before heading out of town, we stopped at two baby consignment stores and luckily found a used Bjorn and the owner slashed the price for me down to $8.  Steal!  Again, nothing is fast in our world.  We spent so much time running around before actually leaving town that it was lunch time.  Quick lunch stop and we finally made our way to Atlantic Beach.  We (Stuart) unpacked all of the gear.

We wanted to quickly (ha ha) head out to the beach before our early dinner reservation.  We headed off for a walk with Leighton in tow in the Bjorn.  Thank the lord, it saved my back and was wonderful!  After fun on the beach it was time to head back to the condo to get ready for dinner.  It was then I realized that we would have to hold Leighton at dinner because we switched out her car seat.  Before, we took her everywhere in her infant seat.  It was perfect.  We could dine out, shop, etc with ease having a safe place for her to relax and easily sleep when she was tired.  Crud.  Seriously. Dumb. Parents.  How would this work?  If we had the bumbo I would have brought that and just sat on top of the table!  The Island Grill was a tiny restaurant so there is no fitting her stroller.  Crud.  Guess she would have to sit up in a high chair.  Thank goodness she has excellent body strength and can sit up.

Off to dinner we went.  Leighton started out in a highchair.  She did great but toys were flying left and right as she continually dropped them.  I quickly got tired of playing fetch.  The other bad part is that Leighton goes to bed between 6-7pm.  The infant seat allows her a place to snooze.  Well, without the seat the poor girl fell asleep in my arms as I desperately tried to eat my dinner and hold a baby.  We made it through dinner so I suppose you could say it was a success.  But boy were both my arms tired later that night. 

Over the next couple of days we had a great time and had many awesome parenting moments.  Leighton went "swimming" for the first time.  She played (stuffed sand in her eyeballs, nose and mouth) in the sand for the first time.  We took her shelling (my favorite beach activity).  Unfortunately at the end of the week we noticed how different Leighton was acting.  She wasn't her usual cheerful self.  No giggling and a lot of fussing.  The weather took a turn for the worse so we decided we needed to get her home early and get her to the doctor.  Luckily we did because it turns out the poor girl was teething and had a double ear infection.  I would have been cranky too!  Spring Break was full of fun moments and many lessons learned.  Pack EVERYTHING you need, think of logistics and listen to your baby.  They truly tell you when something is wrong.  Enjoy our family pictures from our trip.

 (Her drool here should have been our first clue teeth were on the way!)

 She looks like a Seuss character in this outfit!