Summer Vacation - Block Island 2014!

Block Island is one of our favorite places to spend a week every summer. It's relatively close (90 minutes to ferry, then 55 minutes across if you're on the slow boat with a car), unpretentious and beautiful. The beaches have nice soft sand and the ocean is warm and clear. Most people know we got married there 5 years ago and overall it just has a special place in our hearts, especially now that we have children to take with us. So we went last week, stayed in an incredible house, and enjoyed the most perfect weather anyone could have asked for. We had all kinds of family with us but by far the best part was watching Ashton have the time of his life. He swam, boogey-boarded, hunted for frogs, fished for crabs, ate hamburgers and ice cream, built sandcastles, had a mini early birthday and got a shark tattoo. It's permanent. Just kidding.

Here are some of my favorites from his many BI adventures this year.

Haha I love this one:

He and Grandpa were totally worn out from a long day at the beach. They were watching cartoons together :)

This was Alex's first year on BI. Well actually, when we went last year, I was about 6 weeks pregnant with him so technically, his second year. You just can't see him in the picture on the left.

This was standing in almost the exact same spot in the exact same bar restaurant. Let me tell you, nothing puts a damper on a beach vacation like no margaritas, so this year was significantly better in that regard.

Anyway, Alex had a great time too. Although you can't tell by some of these pictures. Babies are hard to photograph, their faces always look so different from shot to shot. Like these first two:

Maybe I'll do a post called "Is it Alex or is it not?" and mix in his picture with other babies and see how well you do. Ehhh, that would be boring. Not as boring as my mailbox post but still boring.

Where was I. Oh, Alex's BI pictures.

After all those pictures of Ashton and Alex, we attempted some good Nill family photos...

 And actually took a lot of selfies, whether with Jason's arm or the camera's self timer ;)

First night:

 Last night:

With many, many more in between. You think I posted a lot here? You should see my iPhoto album ;) I have three problems with my picture-taking that result in these photo-heavy posts.

1) A kid that moves at the speed of light, making 9 out of every 10 shots blurry.

2) No time to actually learn how to use my camera. And let's be honest, no interest either. It is perpetually on the "Auto" setting, so I click and hope it knows what it's doing. Because I sure don't. 

3) FOMO ("fear of missing out", for those not up in the acronym world). On not properly documenting so I can post it here, of missing an important milestone, of Ashton's perfect smile or one of Alex's firsts.

So for these reasons I take a gazillion photos and hope that a fraction of them come out well. Just in case. And I tell myself, I can always delete some, which I do, but thousands still remain. Oh well. 

The moral is, I hope you can tell we had a wonderful summer vacation. I think I took enough pictures to prove it ;)

Before and After: Mailbox Overhaul

Our house came with a dirty, boring black metal mailbox. Behold.

It has been on my list as something to change out. After we painted our house and spruced up our entryway, I knew it was finally time to tackle it. The black clashed with the midnight blue and I also wasn't about to hang this sorry mailbox next to my cheery yellow door. I shopped around for a bit and really loved this style, but it was a monster at 16 inches wide. Too big. I checked Lowes and Home Depot and nothing spoke to me, so I decided to make do with what I had.

First, the mailbox needed a good wipe down. Once it was clean and I peeled off the number stickers, I realized it had a lot of bumpy rust spots. I went digging in Jason's tools and found lots of different sandpapers. I had no idea what grit to use so I chose the purple piece because it was prettiest.

That baby was smoooooooth, let me tell ya.

And then I sent it up to be spray-painted.

That's where I stopped taking pictures apparently because I can't find any more of the "during" process. Oh well, how many pictures of one mailbox can a person take? So I'll skip straight to the after:

I mean, what a showpiece! It proudly accepts letters and small packages from whoever wants to send us anything. I still need to hang it up but for now, that's the short story of how our ugly duckling mailbox became a swan mailbox. How I took a lemon and made lemonade. Found the silver lining in our cloud. Made the best of a bad situation. You get it. And if you ask me, the vinyl sticker gilds the lily. It's the bee's knees. The cherry on top. The icing on the cake. Sheesh, enough already, sorry. I'm just so excited, my sister is in the hospital in labor with my soon-to-be first niece and I'm beside myself. Literally any minute I could get the text that she was born!! Plus tomorrow is Ashton's 3rd birthday and we just got back from a week on Block Island so the blog will be seeing some more action soon! And more exciting action than a mailbox, I promise.

All about Alex at 4 months

My littlest cutest baby is 4 months old! We had his pediatrician appointment this morning and stats are as follows:

Weight: 17 pounds even (81st percentile)
Height/Length: 26 inches (86th percentile)
Head Circumference: 16.75 inches (78th percentile)
Shots: DTap-IPV-HiB, PCV-13, Rotateq are making for a cranky baby right now
Diapers: Size 3
Clothes: 6 months
Pacifiers: 0. He does not seem to be into them, much to my extreme dismay. I don't know if you've heard, but Ashton's alter ego is "Super Paci Man". I wonder if they can ever be friends in light of this huge difference.
First date: Laying on a blanket in the park with Addie Hunter (he's older by 3 weeks and I assure you he was a total gentleman)
Political views: None

I looked back at Ashton's four month post and Alex is doing a lot of the stuff that Ashton did back then (real surprise eh?), including sitting in the infamous pink Bumbo seat.

It's pink because it's a hand-me-down. I am not in an appropriate-baby-gender-color crisis about it. As such, the Baby Merlin's Magic Sleepsuit that Alex slips into for naps and at night (any sleeptime, basically) is also pink due to hand-me-down status.

For those of you wondering what on earth this monstrous space suit looking thing is, it makes babies feel more snug and secure when they are in between swaddling and a regular sleepsack. It keeps their startle reflex down so they can sleep more peacefully. It looks ridiculous but it works. Speaking of swaddling, Alex never liked it whereas with Ashton it was a necessity. We actually had to double wrap him until about 5 or 6 months old. Anyhoo.

As far as the good old shut-eye goes, I wouldn't know because I don't think my lids ever close. That's right. This baby is up all.the.time. Sometimes 4 times between 12 am and 6 am. I'm officially exhausted. The first three months are so simple, newborns fall asleep at the drop of a hat.

"Oh, you just picked me up. [SNORE]"
"Look at that...[SNORE]"
"I think I like the sound of the dishwasher. [SNORE]"
"Oh, you just put me down. [SNORE]"
"And by the way, [SNORE]"

It's like stupid how much newborns sleep and how easily, for hours at a time. At 4 months, BAHAHAHA. Naps are 45 minutes if you're lucky and if you don't put them down right when they get tired, at that magic moment, they wail and get overtired. Then they wake up more, are cranky, and if you're Alex you don't take a paci. So that's that about that. Sleep is not my favorite topic right now. I'm gearing up for some serious cry-it-out because our current situation is not sustainable.

On to the cute things. Alex has discovered his voice and loves to make long loud sounds that mean nothing. He smiles all the time and while he does not blow raspberries per se, he smacks his lips to make a popping sound.  He has also discovered his feet, which are his favorite new toy.

He enjoys general hanging out, either in the jumper or carrier:

 Or with the 'rents:

No more rolling over really. He is more intent on grabbing toys that hang from his playmat than getting onto his belly. His hair is taking on that wiry texture that Ashton's has, and you can see in this photo that sticks up and is quite long.

Ashton's first haircut was around this age so that might be coming down the pike. His cradle cap isn't as bad as Ashton's was so the hair situation is not so dire. It's really amazing, by Ashton's four month birthday we had already been through the eczema, allergies, creams, wet wraps, etc. and he had a dermatologist and an allergist. Alex has had none of those adventures thankfully.

Well that about does it for the 4 month mark. Overall he's right on track, staying busy by munching on his fingers and proving the four month sleep regression really does exist. Lucky me ;) xoxox Alex! 

Cartalk

In the summertime, we go places. We go places to make up for the fact that from November-March, we don't go places. Because it's dark and cold out. Going places usually means getting in the car, which I especially like because both boys are strapped in their carseats and for Ashton in particular, there is little trouble to cause besides crushed goldfish on the floor. Car rides are generally nice, and I would almost consider them a break. Until...lately.

Now, you know that for a long time, Ashton's speech wasn't quite there. I hoped it would catch on eventually and tried not to worry that he was far enough behind to need a speech therapist.

Well, we drove to Needham the other day to go to the Touch A Truck event. On the way home, he.did.not.stop.talking. At all. "Gimme snack, Mommy. I want a snack! I want a snack! GIMME SNACK! GIMME IT! Where we going? Where we going Mommy? Is it in Massachusetts? [I'm serious, he actually asked me this.] Where we going? Home? Home Mommy? Where's Daddy? Daddy at work? What's he doing? What's he doing at work? Where we going? Gimme snack. GIMME SNACK! Look at that mitten, Mommy. Look at that mitten! What is it? Look! LOOK AT THAT MITTEN!!! [At this point, I actually had to answer him because I didn't know what he was talking about. He was getting excited almost to the point of agitation and I was like, "What? What??"

And then I saw.

Heavens to Betsy. The orange hand signal at the crosswalk.

So that was a long drawn out conversation about why the "mitten" was there, that it means "Don't walk", that you can only cross when the mitten goes away and you see a man instead, yaddee yaddee yaddah. Lots of "How come?"s in that one. It's pretty unbelievable when you think that toddlers literally have to learn everything about the world and it's your job to teach them.]

"Ok, I see the mitten. I see it Mommy. I don't walk. GO! Go Mommy, green. Green. THERE'S THE MAN! Look! LOOK AT THE MAN! We walk? The mitten's gone!! Where it go? Where we going? Home? Where are my jamas? We going home to sleep. For naptime. Yeah? My jamas are at home. I like naptime, I ready. Aye-yex (Alex) sleeping, he's sleeping Mommy. Right there, he sleeping. I want a snack. Gimme SNACK..."

I'm not sure I can even emphasize, this was like one big run-on sentence that, save for the crosswalk conversation, I did not interrupt. He chattered almost the entire way home (20 minutes) and some of it I just had to laugh. Especially when he put up his index finger and asked me if where we were going was in Massachusetts. What? Hahaha.

So there's one main point here with two different ways to look at it. Car rides used to be relaxing but now I have a passenger who talks my ear off. But, now I have a passenger that talks my ear off. I'll take it :)

the July 4th that never was

If there was a theme to this year's Independence Day, it was "it totally doesn't seem like the 4th!". And it's really true, it didn't. Due to Hurricane Arthur, we saw no fireworks and had no barbecue. Alex didn't even wear a "my first fourth of july" bib or anything. We were quite unpatriotic. Sorry America.

But, as always, it was Jason to the rescue. His 37th birthday on July 6th gave us a good excuse to salvage the long weekend and travel to Long Island (on the actual 4th, in the pouring rain) with our good friends Berg and Karen. Jason's parents have an awesome pool and live about 5 minutes from a number of great beaches, especially the ones on the bay side that are great for kids. So off we went and in no particular order, here are some highlights with Jason, Ashton, Alex, Berg, Karen, Aunt Lizzie and her son Owen (my nephew! and godson! age 2! already!), and Uncle Chris. And of course, Grandma and Grandpa, who basically fought over who got to hold Alex :)

Ashton and Owen were the best of friends, sharing a boogie board ride, a wagon, a beach, Uncle Chris and a drink.

Jason and Berg were also the best of friends (but then, they always are) and acted completely their age with cannonball splash contests.

The best part was that Jason got to spend so much time with the boys. I can't even describe how this video makes me feel (he is so big!!) and Ashton swam his little heart out trying to keep up with Daddy. 

At one point, I said, "Ashton, show me your hands! They are all wrinkled from the pool!" which prompted a cascade effect of his favorite question lately: "How come?" 

"Because the water makes your skin soft."

"How come?" 

"Umm, because it gets in all the teeny tiny holes in your skin. I think."

"How come?"

etc. etc. I can't remember what I made up that finally satisfied him. But he spent most of the weekend with hands like this.

Oh, and we put Alex in the pool for the first time too! In his teeny bathing suit and teeny rash guard.

It was so fun to see him float around. He loved it (but it helped that the water temp was like 85 ;) )

Jason had his favorite birthday Fudgy the Whale cake from Carvel:

And the next night, and perhaps best of all, we got to go on a date. With live music and a view of the harbor and everything. 

It was gorgeous. The very first time I went home to Long Island with him was for his 30th birthday 7 years ago so we toasted to that too. Did I ever tell you that story? Jason invited me down even though we weren't in an official relationship yet. He was having a big party and we had had a fun couple of months so far so I went. The day of, his parents and a couple friends were really busy getting the house ready. Naturally, I wanted to be helpful, so when his dad came home from the store with all kinds of food, ice, etc. to unload, I picked up the cake to bring it inside. 

Well. Their front stoop has three steps up and my flip flop caught on one and I tripped. And dropped the cake. Stupid steps. Luckily, no one saw, but the cake was layered so the whole top part had slid halfway off from the force of hitting the ground. I distinctly remember freaking out.

I ran inside where Jason's friend Evan was prepping mint for mojitos and told him what happened. We opened the box and I thought we did a pretty good job of fixing it. The frosting was broken in some parts but I mean, you could tell it was a birthday cake so I took a deep breath and left it on the counter. 

BIG mistake. It was July. And hot. By the time Jason's mom went to get the cake to put the candles on it (hours later), the frosting had softened and the whole cake had slid into this lopsided pile. She carried it out on the platter while everyone sang and at the end someone said, "What happened to the cake??" To which someone else yelled, "Jason's girlfriend dropped it!" I wanted to die. There I was, standing in front of about 35 people I had never met and responsible for ruining the very thing that birthday parties are usually centered around.

Jason's mom managed to salvage some pieces before the whole thing went in the trash. I could not stop apologizing. She looked at me and said, "So what, who cares?" and laughed. To this day it is one of our favorite stories. One of those,"not funny to me at the time but now it is" kind of stories. She will still say that she knew from that very first trip down that I would marry Jason.

Anyway I digress, but I think I was just about done. Here are a couple more of my favorite pictures from the weekend. 

After the rainy 4th it was definitely feeling like summer. Watching Ashton swim all around on his own was just crazy - he is going to be 3 in less than a month! Three. Threeeeeee. It's beyond. So that is coming up August 3rd but for the purposes of this post, happy birthday America and happy birthday Jason! I'd drop your cake again in a heartbeat.