Blakely - 1 month old

Blakely turned one month old a couple days ago. I can’t believe how fast the time has gone! She is the sweetest little thing there ever was. She’s sleeping well and I don’t feel too run down most days. This is much different from when Ryder was a newborn and I was so exhausted I felt nauseous most of the time!! I was a walking zombie! She’s been great at nursing from the very beginning. She loves bath time and is very alert! She loves when you sit and chat with her and also loves being sung to. Oh my heart! I just love her so much. She loves to lay on the couch, spread out and look around. Her black hair just keeps getting longer and I love it! She’s a little cuddle bug right after she eats and I swear I could sit and stare at her squishy little face ALL. DAY. LONG.

We decided to get some pics of our one month old. I knew Ryder wouldn’t cooperate, because he never does. But I just told Tooth to put him next to me and snap away. Even if Ryder was screaming and crying (like he usually does. Which I actually don't mind. I love capturing his real emotion. Even if it isn't pretty or "perfect". Sometimes the imperfect moments are the best.) But instead of crying and running away, he sat next to me and asked to hold Blakely. OMG. I think my heart melted into a puddle right there. He must know that my love language is photography. I was so excited, you guys. He hasn’t held Blakely yet!! He’ll kiss her sometimes. He’ll check on her and give her the binki. But he has had no interest in touching her. LOL So this moment literally melted me and I’m thrilled it happened while we had the camera out! Best moment ever.

Ryder's already better at soccer than me. At least when I hold a baby I can blame my lack of skill on the fact that I have an infant in my arms. LOL

This face. Ha! She's always making this face at me like I've done her wrong! ;)

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Oh my gosh! These little smiles! Is this real life?! How is she so cute? :) :)

Ryder isn't screaming or crying. And he isn't running away. I'm obviously thrilled!

Then he asked to hold her (he said, "hold you") and I thought my heart was going to explode right then and there. This is his first time holding Blake. You guys, I really thought my heart was going to burst from so much love!

And then this. He looks at the camera. And again, he isn't crying. He's actually happy to look at the camera and take a decent picture. VICTORY! LOL

Oh my! Then to top it off he leans in for a kiss!!!!

He's pretty proud of himself for loving on her! :)

He gave her a couple more kisses before deciding he was done. I swear I'll never forget this moment. My sweet boy and my bitty baby girl. Oh how I love them. I will cherish this memory and these pictures forever. Shout out to my patient hubby who took these pictures and captured the moments perfectly. I had a perma smile the rest of the day (and it's possible that I'm still smiling about this cute moment right now!).

               

Ryder's Pool

We have a neighborhood pool and playground but they do NOT cater to little ones. This has been such a frustrating thing for me as a SAHM. We are lucky to have such great rec centers in our area and also belong to Lifetime, but having a neighborhood pool is something I LOVED as a kid. So many of my summer memories are at the pool and I loved every second of swimming and eating Popsicles with friends during the adult swim. I’ll never forget taking my swimming test (I may or may not have failed it a couple times - oops LOL) and the excitement I felt when I finally passed and got my pool ID card. OMG, I was clearly one of the cool kids now!!

Our neighborhood pool is small and nothing like the pool I grew up with. Which is totally ok, but it’s not even realistic for me to take Ryder there for any length of time. There is not a shallow end and the baby pool is gross and boring. Ryder much prefers the fountains at Lifetime and the fun toys and kids at the rec centers. But being so pregnant, I knew I would want something easier and more convenient this summer. Packing up and going to the pool is a full day event with little ones. It’s always worth it and so much fun, especially when we’re meeting friends! But I knew my pregnancy would wear on me and I wanted something fun in our yard for Ryder during the warm months. So I convinced Tooth that it would be a good idea to invest in a mini pool for him. He was on board and we got him a little bouncy house/slide/pool. It was worth every penny and is so much fun! We’ve had friends over a couple times and the kids just have a blast playing with toys in the water and running around in the yard.

This pool comes with a little electrical pump. DUH! I obviously don’t sit out there for 4 hours blowing this thing up every morning! LOL But even with the pump, it is still a little work to get it up and my pregnant self struggled to just assist Tim putting it up the first time. So we just blow it up and leave it out over night for a couple days at a time so we don’t have to go down there and start from scratch every morning. This has been so much fun and it’s close to our basement patio so I can sit in the shade and try to cool down if needed. We keep toys, towels, sunscreen, etc in the basement so it’s just there and ready for fun when we want to play in the pool. This has been so convenient for us this summer. I don’t have to pack up and spend hours planning and making snack bags for our daily outings. We just head downstairs and POOF! The fun begins!

 

Here he is with one of his besties, Graham. They crack me up!

I got this pool from One Step Ahead and totally recommend it! Let the play dates begin☺