Zoom in on Zayne- 5 months old

Hey sweet boy!
Welllll, you're still just as amazing as when you were born. You are just a dreamy little boy. You are so happy, so sweet, so content! I often stop what I'm doing because your smile is irresistible. Seriously, you smile at me and I just have to come over to you! And then we hang out :) And chat. You coo a lot. And tell me all about your day. I love laying with you or holding you and watching you do your thang. You are such a joy and I am so very thankful I get to be your Mama!!

Whats new with you...
You rolled over! From your tummy to your back. You love to chew on my fingers. Everything goes in your mouth. I think its a combination of the age you're at and possibly teething. I don't see or feel any teeth, but you drool and chew on everything. And to be perfectly honest, that's totally the phase you're at, so who really knows if you're teething. You're not fussy at all, so you're not in any pain. Raya and Kallen both had an easy time when their teeth came in so I'm hoping you'll have an easy time too!

You sleep well. You're not really on a sleep schedule yet. During the day I let you play and sleep whenever you feel like it. When you're tired you fall asleep easily. And you take pretty long naps too! Sometimes I forget I have 3 kids! I'm talking like 3 to 5 hour naps. You go to bed around 7 and sleep until your brother wakes you up around 6 or 7 the next morning. You wake up once or twice to nurse but its a simple thing. I put the pack-n-play next to the bed so you go between that and our bed throughout the night. Bottom line we both wake up refreshed so that's all I care about! And you LOVE when I snuggle up to your face with mine. I can almost guarantee, if you're tired and I put my face against yours that's all you need to fall asleep. Its one of life's most perfect moments.

You're still nursing like a champ. You seem to be growing steadily. I had to take you to the doc cause Raya gave you your first cold, which you didn't even fuss about. Seriously dude, You. Are. Amazing! And side note, I would be totally ok with that fact that you were fussy while you were sick, I expect it, but the only reason I knew you were sick was because of your symptoms. You had a cough, stuffy nose, mild fever and the 2nd or 3rd day you broke out in hives and got them on and off for about 2 days. But you're all good now. I think you were sick for about 7-8 days. Tough guy! But at that doc appt you weighed 16 pounds. You're in 3-6month clothes and size 3 diapers.

Things you love...
You love to cuddle. And listen to your Daddy. When he comes home from work you do all you can to see where he is when you hear is voice. You love hanging with me :) (likewise) You love to sleep, eat and play. You LOVE your big sister. She cracks you up. Shes so good with you and is the first person to really make you laugh hard, like that non-stop cracking up laugh. Its so cute. One of your fav things is when she fake coughs. You think its hilarious. You 2 also laugh alot when you're in the car. You can see her when you're in your car seat and she makes you laugh and coo and helps you when you drop your pacifier. You're also much better in the car. There was a few weeks that you hated it. After about 30mins you were over it and pissed, but as of now you're good to go! I think now that you have toys and things to do you stay entertained and don't mind being strapped down. You love to chew on things, especially my fingers. You love kisses and love giving them. This month you've started grabbing my face and attacking me with kisses. Its the BEST!

This month you went on your first trip! The day you turned 5 months we flew to Dallas. You slept the whole flight. And we went on a 10 day trip that included 3 long roadtrips (well 3hours, 5hours and 6 hours) and then a flight back home and you were great on all of them! You got to meet your Grandma and Papa in Texarkana and we also got to hang out at Gdaddys in Dallas.  You even visited your Mom and Dad's Alma Mater! Yep, we took you on your first college visit to the University of Arkansas. It
was a GREAT trip!! I'll have to do a whole separate post on that.

I so enjoy watching you grow. You seem to have a pretty easy going temperament. You roll with the punches and are just happy to go along! I know I'm beyond lucky. And I'm also beyond thankful that I get to be your Mommy!! I love you baby boy!

Xoxo,
Mom

4th of July!

It was hot here! Like 85! Lol. A perfect 4th of July :) In the morning we went down to the Huntington Beach Parade- which is the biggest parade west of the Mississippi. It was our first time going to the parade and we had no idea what to expect. We surprisingly didn't have to park 7 miles away and found a pretty good spot to sit. The thing I didn't think about was being in the beating down sun with my son. So we only stayed for about the first of the 2 hours of the parade. But it wasn't hard to leave...The atmosphere was so fun, but the actual parade was pretty boring. There weren't any floats or fun bands. Just a bunch of people from the city. It was cool to see the Veterans and some of the Men and Women currently serving our country. Except at one point a group of what I thought were junior high kids marched by and when I read their banner I saw they were actually a group of kids that had just enrolled in the Army. Man they looked young! Too young :( The COOLEST part were all the Flyovers. There was a couple helicopters that flew over a couple times really low to the ground and then the fighter jets did like 4 fly-overs. Those were awesome! When we first got seated Raya was kinda freaked out by all the people. She kept telling me "Bye, Bye. Home. Bye, Bye. Home" and pointed to our "house." But as soon as the parade started and she was up on Gentry's shoulders she loved it. Loved it so much she had a bit of a melt down when we left. But nothing a coke Slurpee couldn't fix! Ps- Today is 7.11. Free Slurpees at 7-11 today!

Off to the Parade!

 Love this boy!!! He's such a Mama's boy <3

 This was the only picture I got of the 4 of us. But I kinda like it :)

 Never in her entire life has Raya fallen asleep in a stroller. 

Kallen, however, will sleep just about anywhere.

We weren't going to go watch fireworks because it was late and we had a long day, but at the last minute I felt too unpatriotic and decided we WERE going to watch them. So we drove over to my Mom's to park. She lives about 3 blocks from the beach so we can park in her driveway and walk down. Raya was overwhelmed by the crowd again, and because she was also tired, the fireworks weren't going to change her mind. So my Mom and Raya walked back home and watched them on Tv. We stayed and watched the show...which was a bit uneventful :( But everyone fell asleep on the drive home so bed time was easy! The fireworks really freaked Raya out this year. Last year she loved them. This year she wanted nothing to do with them. And where we watch them from you can only see them, you can't hear them at all. But when we'd see one in the sky and point to it she'd turn her head away and squeeze her eyes closed. So....yah! She wasn't havin it. But she looked cute! (Which is all the really matters, right? ;)

 We have a TON of glow sticks, so the 2 of them got all lit up before our walk.

 It gets cold at the beach at night, so we had to switch to our "Evening 4th of July outfits."

And last year at this time it was, well, the 4th of July ;) --> 4th of July all Weekend

Summer is HERE! Again

Had our 1st Official Beach Day of the Summer. My brother, his girlfriend, Tara, and my Mom all came and met us for the afternoon. We went to Seal Beach, which is the beach I grew up going to when we lived in Claremont. Now Seal Beach is a 10 minute drive from my house. CRAZY how life works :) This is the 1st summer Raya REALLY enjoys the beach. Her first summer she was brand new, last summer she was still in that I'm Probably Going to Eat the Sand age, so this summer shes all about the sand toys and playing in the water. She still hasn't officially out grown the Eating Sand Age. Whuck?! Yah, occasionally she'll lick the sand. Awesome. But all in all she's at a great age for the beach. Except when she starts sprinting down the stand and I have to chase her. In my bathing suit. No bueno ;)

Isn't that the cutest swim suit?! Its from my friend Megan. 

Kallen spent most of the day napping in my lap or with Tara. The hard life. 

Love me some Instagram and Hipstamatic :)

Fun times with Uncle B 

I guess her first lesson with her Uncle taught her all she needed to know. 

Beach Stroll with Nana

Kallen woke up when the sun came out. And was all smiles :) I love that little tongue!

California Girls

Who knows where we'll be years from now....but living by the beach and watching these babies grow up as beach bums will be one of my favorite things about this little life of ours.

And Last Year at This Time: I was kicking off Summer! Apparently I can't wait for summer ;)