Emerald Isle

Emerald Isle has always held a sentimental spot in my heart. That's the beach that I grew up going to - my grandparents had a condo there, and our family vacationed there several times a year. Also, it's where Jason proposed to me. Jason also grew up vacationing at Emerald Isle once a year. So naturally, Russell needed to see it!

We went for a week with Jason's parents. The weather was gorgeous, and our house had the best deck right on the ocean.

Our little beach bum enjoyed the deck - at least, when the sun went down a bit!

Russell and his PawPaw got lots of quality time together.

A good family pic:

Vacations are certainly different with a baby! Russell did not sleep well at the beach, and is having a hard time getting back to his normal 7-uninterrupted-hours-of-sleep even now that we're back. Hopefully he'll be back in the swing of things soon!

3 months old!

Our favorite little baby Russell is 3 months old! (This post is a little late due to our beach vacation last week :))

Here are some pictures from his 3 month photo shoot:

Just hangin' out -

Looking a little suspicious of the camera -

I know he's falling over a little here, but his face is too cute!

Here's what Russell has been up to lately:

~Definitely smiling at people this month, more so than lamps! Thank goodness :)

~Recognizes both me and Jason, and gives us huge smiles whenever he sees us: so precious.

~Loves to stand up (assisted of course) - I'm convinced he would stand for hours if someone would hold him for that long.

~Has rolled over (front to back) twice!

~Has an 8 pm bedtime, and we have a bedtime routine in place. About 80% of the time he goes to sleep really easily. Very soon, we'll work on a nap schedule.

~Really enjoys his activity mat and bumbo seat, but not so interested in the swing anymore.

We enjoy him more and more with each passing day. We can't believe how fast he's growing, and we are cherishing every minute (well, most minutes anyway)!

Bumbo!

Russell is starting to gain really steady head control - yay! We're doing lots of tummy time, and he's getting so strong. Because of that, I decided it was time to break out the Bumbo seat - a hand-me-down from Jason's co-worker.

Checking out the floor -

Just chillin' and relaxin' -

Waving; "Bye bye, blog readers!"

One Confused Child

Well, it finally happened - I guess I couldn't avoid it forever:



Yes, Russell is now wearing his NC State onesie. I thought maybe if I kept saying "I think it's still too big" Jason wouldn't try to put it on him :) But I console myself with the fact that he's frowning. Also, I console myself with these:



My best friend from college Alisha and her boyfriend Brian came over today, and they gave Russell his first Carolina clothes! Love her so much. Here they are with Russell:



Don't worry, State fans, they are 12 mo. size, so he won't be in them for a while.

We are going to have one confused kid ;)

Hitting the Beach!

Jason and I love the beach, so we were so glad to take our first trip of the summer with several close friends! Russell was in good company - Parker was there with his parents Chad and Devon; Isaac with his parents Ryan and Amy; and Caleb (in utero ;)) with his parents-to-be Josh and Leigh Anne.

Russell didn't really see much of the beach, but he was definitely relaxed!

This is as close as he got to the ocean...

All the girls on the beach:

Different couples were in charge of dinner each night, and afterwards we all hung out in our house. Here are Chad and Amy inspecting the mahi-mahi on Saturday night:

And LA and Devon entertaining Parker:

Russell and I got some good pictures too (I have been told there are not enough of me on this blog ;)).

Yes, we have matching PJs :) This may embarrass him at some point:

Playing around:

And one final pic - as Jason said, of Ma and Pa R. in the rocking chairs with our little boy:

The weather was lovely (except for one rainy afternoon) and the company was even better - we laughed until we cried. Can't wait to do it again next year...except in a different house...maybe minus a couple roaches and plus a better cleaning job :)