Beach Trip!

Earlier this month, we packed up the fam and met B's family in North Carolina for a week.  We spent our days enjoying the sand, water, and time with family.  The boys and I went out one night in search of ghost crabs and found a few tiny ones.  We also got to the pier where Andrew and Matthew tried fishing for the first time.  While no one slept all that much on the trip--the boys were up by 6am every morning (that's 4am SLC time!) and didn't nap at all--we loved the beach and are hoping to get back again sometime in the next few years!

The pictures:

On their way to the first beach sighting of the trip! 

Giddy!

OFF he goes!

Sand! Everywhere!  For the record, Matthew insisted on wearing his "round round hat" for most outings the whole trip.  We do fully expect him to get angry with us when he's older for taking him out in it.  Sorry in advance, bud.

The boys with Uncle Mick

Grandma's the only one who listened when I told them to look! 

Catherine--6 months old at the beach! Look at those rolls! 

Digging for water.

Snoozing with nature's noise machine.

Nearly the whole group

You'll find that I seem to like pictures of the backs of heads.

Crab shell (aka-dead crab)!

Cutie

Patootie

More digging in the never ending sandbox.

Night hike looking for ghost crabs.

Grandpa and Grandma with all 3 of their grandkids.

My 4 favorite people in the world. 

Just some rockin' chairs on a beach.  No biggie.

Checking out the Surf City pier (see--backs of heads)

Sunset over the Sound (more backs of heads)

Learning about pinfish.

Fishing off the Jolly Roger pier

Hi Matthew! 

Can I tell you how terrified I was of those wide openings in the pier?  Yikes.

Enjoying our last night at the sound.

Last Day at the Beach

Lovin' the offspring.

Well, we all know you can't leave a beach vacation without burying the kids.

Andrew loved it.  Matthew, not so much.

We wouldn't want her to feel left out, right?  :)

Father son bonding.

Trying real NC bbq in Wilmington before heading home.

I'm taking the picture and wearing Catherine, but this is how we travel these days: 3 carseats, 3 suitcases, 3 carry-ons, 3 kids, and 1 stroller.  It's not exhausting at all.

Almost home!  Photographer Andrew spotted the mountains! 

Happy Travelers!

Catherine's 7 months!

Not sure how it's already been a month, but Catherine turned 7 months old a couple days ago.  Here's what she's up to at 7 months: 

-SCOOTING!  She's all over the place and getting faster every day.  This is a major game-changer around here and I keep being surprised when I find her in unexpected places.  

-Teething--Catherine's still only sporting 2 teeth, but she has about 6 more that look like they are ready to pop through any day now.  

-Sitting--Catherine's completely stable and can sit unsupported now.  It's nice to be able to set her down and not worry about her falling over.

-Babbling--We've been a little excited to catch an occasional MAMA and DADA out of the babbles.  Yeah, yeah, I know it doesn't mean anything, but it's still kinda fun.

-Eating--She's still not that into purees, but does seem interested in Cheerios.  I'm going to start moving toward more finger foods because I'm definitely happy to leave the messiness of purees behind us.

-Sleep--After my 6 month post about Catherine being an amazing sleeper, she decided to wake up at least once a night for the entire month.  I'm not sure if she was growing, teething, or what, but she hit 7 months old and decided to start sleeping again.  Now, let's just hope I'm not jinxing myself by making it public again!  Geez.  

Catherine's incredibly sweet and smiley most of the time.  We love this little one so much.

And, some of my favorite pictures from the month: 

Of course, got mobile and headed straight for the cords!

Caught!

Ugh! More cords!

Doesn't this picture just make you smile?

So big!

Catherine is 6 Months Old!

Catherine turned 6 months old this week!  Here's what she's up to at 6 months:

-Looking cute with 2 bottom teeth.
-Sitting with support and toppling less and less each day.
-Getting her first tastes of food--so far, she's had peaches, peas, and sweet potatoes with sweet potatoes as the clear favorite at this point.  Oh...and just for the record, peaches were her first food.
-While she's not actually scooting yet, Catherine somehow manages to move around the floor to get what she wants.  She's pretty skilled at combining rolling and stretching to get places.  It still throws us off to peak around the corner to check on her and she's in a completely new spot!
-Usually taking 3 naps per day.  The poor thing gets woken so much, though.  I often have to take the boys places and feel horrible grabbing Catherine from her crib when she looks so peaceful.  I guess that just comes with the territory for the 3rd baby, but it makes me sad.
-Being so sweet, calm, and content 99% of the time.  She still rarely cries and just rolls with whatever craziness we have going on around here.
-Sleeping!  I've somehow been blessed with 3 great sleepers (as babies at least, we'll talk about Matthew in another post).  Catherine sleeps through the night (8pm til 6:30am) solidly these days.  I think she's woken me in the night only 2-3 times in the last 2 months.  I know-she's amazing and definitely a keeper.

Her 6th month, in pictures: 

Figuring out how toes taste.

Such a rare treat for her to fall asleep while I'm holding her--thank you, teething! 

Practicing some sitting.

Aunt Annie gave Catherine this onesie because she always dreamed of having a sailor dress as a kid. 

All ready for her first taste of food--Utah Peaches!

6 month old photo shoot:

More sitting practice and a typical Catherine expression.