Punta Cana, Domincan Republic

Okay, Punta Cana pictures. I wish I had time to post more, but the wine bar and good friends are calling my name...........

Kim and Mike's wedding.....BEAUTIFUL!

The gorgeous bride.
Swim hat, swim shirt, swim diaper. He loves to swim!
I could just eat this little man up.
Giggling in daddy's lap.

My husband is quite hot, if I do say so myself.

What a view on our beach. Amazing!
Swimming in the caribbean with his daddy. He wasn't too fond of the water temperature; the pool was warmer.
Family portrait (again). I love this photo, it may be a framer.
I sure love this little busto.
My boys getting a nap in.

I love my dear hubbie- he's the best!
Somebody has found his feet! And he has rolls galore. Just a note about that. Despite all the rolls, Drake has only gained 12 ounces in 2 months- not nearly enough. He is in the 5th -10th percentile for height, weight, and head circumference. Our pediatrician isn't worried about the total weight, but rather that he gained so little in the last 2 months. My milk supply has continued to decrease, but since Drake doesn't act hungry, I haven't been too extremely worried. But now I am, so I (we) are making sure he gets around at least 30 ounces a day. He still nurses anytime he wants, but are offering him a lot more bottles. They are, unfortunately, mostly formula.....but some breast milk as well. I'm suppose I should just be happy we've made it this far. Oh well....
My baby boy was sleepy by the pool.
ANY resort that puts the bottles of champagne RIGHT beside the mimosas can't be that bad.
Our friends Kim and Mike, the couple that was married in Punta Cana.
Family portrait:-) Drake was laughing at our friend Brian being silly.
Family portrait. Drake was sleeping in the stroller:-)
Beautiful sunset
Our new mei tai carrier by babyhawk. I love it, although the front carry doesn't work. It apparently cuts off Drake's circulation to his legs and his feet turn purple. I realized that right after this photo was taken. Now he only rides facing me!

MIA

Just wanted everyone to know that I may be MIA for a while. I have so much to do with changing homes, jobs, cities, etc., etc., that I won't have much time to blog. Punta Cana was gorgeous, and our friend's wedding was beautiful. Hopefully I'll at least get a few pictures up from that.

Nikki

Big News, just in case you haven't heard.....

We are moving. Officially, as in my notice has been given at work. As in, I've officially accepted another job offer. As in, we've already started to pack/stage our house to put it on the market. This time, it's for real.

Months ago, my husband started on this kick that we needed to be near family. He didn't care which family, he just thought we needed to be near one of our family's. Well, I didn't agree. I could never survive the weather in western New York, and I had no desire to move back to Florence. Well, then there was the day we were headed out of Florence after visiting with my new niece (and other assorted family). I got kinda sad that Drake wouldn't be growing up with any cousins, like Eric and I both did. That's when the soul searching began. We had serious talks about moving to Buffalo, Rochester, and Florence. This southern girl actually considered moving to the snow. But alas, my Yankee husband did not want to live in the snow. Interestingly enough, he wants to live in the country and plant an orchard. WTH? An orchard? Seriously? And an organic garden......go figure........

We talked a little more about moving to Florence. I had, and still have, some serious reservations about it. But one thing tipped me over the edge.....the job. As it turns out, the CRNA's at McLeod practice in a way that is very desirable to me. The practice there is one I couldn't have designed better myself. It's very independent and autonomous, and the CRNA's seem to be very respected. It is, in a nutshell, fabulous. I will be working five days a week (YUCK), but have every 6th week off as a comp week. Plus 6 weeks of vacation. Plus a week off for continuing education. That's right folks, count it up. I'll only be working 39 weeks a year!!!!! I'm kinda happy about that. And as much as I hate getting up early, it will be nice to cook dinner for my family and have a normal family routine.

So, that's our big news. We hope to move in August. But I have to wait for all my SC nursing crap to be official, plus get credentialed with the hospital. I hate this paperwork with a passion! Hopefully Eric will have an official job offer in the next few weeks.

I'm not even going to get started on the housing situation. We'll probably just rent a house until ours sells. Stressful....

So, next summer we'll hopefully be settled into a house with a nice backyard and pool. Come visit us!

A great day

I just wanted to quickly say what a good morning I had yesterday. First, a trip to the local breastfeeding support group. It's a great thing to be surrounded by like minded women.

Then, I went across the street to a new store! It's called Miss Monkey's Boutique, and it is the second location in Charlotte. But the other one is a good 45 minutes away, completely across town. It has cloth diapers and a ton of other really natural and organic stuff. I LOVE THIS STORE! I managed to get out with only one new diaper ( a green acre design with tractor embroidered), a pair of baby legs (too cute with skull and cross bones), and kleen kanteen sippy cup (you know how neurotic I am about plastic), and some mosquito patches that are essential oils instead of chemicals like deet (to keep my sweet baby from being bitten). I was proud I didn't go too beserk!

I work tonight, and tomorrow we finish up all our packing for PUNTA CANA!!! I am really excited, but also nervous about taking our little man with us. It will be a good time, just not the type of vacation I'm used to at an all inclusive. I might as well toss relaxation out the window. Oh well, I can take my daily nap with the Drakester, instead of by the pool. Be prepared for photo overload when we return! And speaking of that, I need a good website to upload photos to. One that's easy to order prints from, and easy to share. Suggestions?

Big News!

WE HAVE TEETH!!! Two of them as a matter of fact. Drake also now reaches for (AKA demands) his bottle, and holds it consistently. He also has decided that rolling is no big deal. I guess sitting up alone, and crawling are next. I cannot believe how big my sweet baby is.

I had a great time this past weekend with my college sorority sisters, and hope to get a blog up about that later. It was such a great weekend!

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's day to Eric, my dad, Denny, and Boots! This is Eric's first Fathers day, and I think he's having a good one. For Mother's day last month, I got to choose the activities for the entire weekend. And we are doing the same for Father's day! Yesterday Eric slept until 11, and we went clothes shopping for him later in the afternoon. Last night I took him out to eat wings. You can understand how much my Buffalo boy enjoyed that, I'm sure. Today, I let him sleep again. He was up by 9, and gone by 10 for 18 holes of disc golf. It's another one of his favorite things! Tonight we are going to Pops in the Park, which is a summer event where the Charlotte symphony orchestra plays for free in the park. It's a lot of fun, if it's not too hot. We'll have to see about that one.

We are doing sleep training with Drake, so I am DEAD tired. No more nursing him in the middle of the night, just using the binkie and soothing him back to sleep. I've shouldered most of the work this weekend, since I'm off and it's Eric's special weekend. I'm looking forward to tonight, when I shift some of the work back to Eric. I'm in desperate need of some rest. I feel like I did the first month of Drake's life. But this sleep training will all be worth it when he consistently sleeps from 8pm to 7am. That's my goal! And maybe one day, it'll even get stretched out to 8am. The last two mornings I've given in by 6:30 and nursed him. I really want to make it to 7am tomorrow! This kid has GOT to quit waking up at 5am.

Drake's two bottom teeth are still right below the gum. They are so sharp, and he no longer gets to naw on mommys fingers. I'll be sure to post when they finally pop through!

Beach Trip!

The most adorable face in the world.

My brother and I with our kiddos
Drake laughing on the beach
In the ocean
Break out the sunglasses!

Eric and I with my brother Davy, SIL Bridget, and the sleeping babies.

Out cold. Do you not just love the tutu bathing suit?
Drake loves his daddy.
"Hey Eric- We thought you were watching the kids?"
Drake wanted to hold hands--so sweet.

Eric and I went out for a date night at Joe's crab shack! It was very tasty.

This is what happens when Drake is left with grandpa. He put EVERY toy possible on the bumbo play tray. He was trying to ensure there would be no crying or fussing.
In a coma on the beach. I love these little sun shirts kids wear. Drake's in SPF 50, which is fabulous.
Drake and Daddy on the beach. My men sure are cute.

Drake was not interested in looking at the camera.

Kisses from mommy

Drake and gammy
Drake and grandpa
This is my new solar veil ring sling by Taylor Made. It's mesh, so it's perfect for swimming. It's also a high spf! Drake loves it! For any of you other baby wearers out there, I highly recommend it.
Mom, Dad, and Eric putting up the tent.

We've had a wonderful time at the beach. I think Drake enjoyed it too, although he seemed to sleep alot of the time on the beach away. Must've been the soothing sound of ocean waves. Here are some photos for your viewing pleasure.

Drake decided that the beach was a lovely place to perfect his roll. He rolls from front to back, and back to front. We also introduced a sippy cup, with nothing in it. I'm letting him get used to that and a spoon since he'll be using both soon. I was shocked and sorta sad when he immediately took the cup and put it in his mouth. How does he know how to do that??? He is such a big boy. In other big news, he has two teeth that are RIGHT below the surface. It hurts when he grabs my fingers and puts them in his mouth. No more chewing on mommy as a teether.